When a young wife accidentally loses her underpants during a public parade, she becomes an overnight celebrity in Steve Martin's outrageous comedy The Underpants on stage at Actors Theatre of Louisville October 2 - 27.
Sponsored by Aegon, The Underpants is the first time Martin — popular actor, comedian, playwright and producer — has been represented on the stage of the 44-year-old downtown professional theatre company.
Martin's adaptation of Carl Sternheim's classic German comedy, Die Hose, embraces the chaos that befalls a neglected housewife whose underpants fall down as she watches a parade featuring the King, creating a public scandal and earning some determined new admirers. The entertaining romp about fidelity, politics, sexuality and hidden desire brings Martin's comic genius and sophisticated literary style to adapting and updating a turn-of-the-century comedy. The result maintains the social satire of the original while adding a modern sense of humor.
Martin is known as a comic who successfully made the transition from zany stand-up acts to film comedies to dramatic film roles to leading man status. But he has also made a career for himself through writing for screen and stage. His passion and talent for writing led him to theatre. In an interview with the New York Times in 2002, Martin said, "I like the theatre because of writing. There's a certain freedom as a writer to be tangential."
Special Events
To complement the run of The Underpants, Actors Theatre will host Funny Fridays at Intermezzo Café, located on the lower level of the theatre's complex. Each Friday in October local comedic talent will perform at 10:30 pm following the 8 pm performances. Free and open to the public, Funny Fridays will be October 5, 12, 19 and 26.
Another comedic event will be a showing of the 1979 movie The Jerk, Martin's first starring role in a feature film. The popular "rags-to-riches-to rags" comedy of belated self-discovery directed by Carl Reiner also features Bernadette Peters, M. Emmett Walsh and Jackie Mason. Presented in association with Louisville Film Society, the screening will be October 1 at 7:30 pm in the Victory Jory Theatre. Admission is free, but tickets are required.
Tickets for The Underpants are $28, $38 and $43 for Sunday through Thursday and Weekend Matinees performances. Tickets for Friday and Saturday evening performances $32, $42 and $52. -- www.actorstheatre.org
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