The Comedy About A Bank Robbery

The wordplay, the timing, the coordination. Like a magic show at close range.

The play on words at the outset was so fast and witty I was worried that my boys were too young to pick up on the double meanings. OK, OK, I was worried that I also wouldn’t be fast or clever enough to get it all without subtitles and slow explanations.

Earlier in the evening, my son said “Musicals are just a bunch of people on stage singing. Boooorrrring!” A minute into the play he was laughing out loud.

There was slapstick, there were cover-your-eyes-this-is-going-to-be-ugly scenes, there were so many double meanings in the words that you practically needed a thesaurus–and/or a pause button to get what they just said.

The team had obviously worked together to perfect their timing. They were a well-oiled machine and with split-second timing, they had you on the edge of your seat and uncontrollably laughing.

Note to parents: This is a reminder not to, always, listen to your kids.

The boys wanted to go home. They were tired. They wanted to watch a movie. Go to the pool. Walk around. Eat. Anything but a musical. That was, and I quote, “The last thing I want to do.”

“Great, we’re going.”

As parents, you have to know when to listen to your kids and when not to. Let’s see:

1. We’re in London.
2. We’re going to miss what we were planning on doing (the London Eye).
3. I just charmed my way into good seats at a reduced price because the play starts in 11 minutes.
4. The guy at the half-price ticket booth said that this was probably the best show in town for 10- and 12-year old boys.
5. We can always go to the movies.
6. You’ll like it. I promise.

Today we quoted scenes from the play the entire day. “Oh, remember when he said … ?” “No, no, this was the best part.” No talk of movies, pools or anything else. Oh, except for, “Dad, do you think we can see more stuff like what we saw last night?”