phillytheatertix.com

Philly Burbs-At first glance, the Montgomery Theater appears to be taking what you might call a major leap of faith.

After all, the Souderton-based venue has just launched its latest season with Gina Gionfriddo’s “Becky Shaw,” a scathing, class-conscious piece that runs through Feb. 25.

That work will be followed by Tom Dudzick’s “Don’t Talk to the Actors,” Muriel Resnik’s “Any Wednesday,” Scott Brown and Anthony King’s “Gutenberg! The Musical!” and finally Sean Grennan’s “Making God Laugh.”

There’s a common thread — be it a conscious or subconscious decision.

They all fall into the realm of comedy. And that, you should know, is somewhat unusual in the world of theater, especially professional theater — that a company would devote all of its energies in a season to one genre.

Is there a method to the madness? Is this a carefully calculated risk?

Well, not exactly.

“ ‘Becky Shaw’ is a dark comedy, but I think it’s a riot,” says artistic director Tom Quinn. “You know, all great plays have a comedic nature to them. You can probably find laughs in all works ... except for maybe ‘Joan of Arc.’

“I tend to gravitate toward comedy myself. I think that’s probably part of the influence. I typically like to produce plays that not only have humor, but a certain provocative sense.

“I like to think in terms of a good, full, diverse season, but, really, they’re all stories, and like I said earlier, even your best dramatic pieces have moments of humor that can be richly funny.

“But, hey, if this means that more people come out, that they have an inkling that it’s a comedic season, then lucky us.”

The signs are extremely encouraging. read more