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Smelling a Rat

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  2w, 3m

Mike Leigh

"A perfectly tart comedy....One of the brightest and most stimulating shows to be seen in Manhattan in many a month. This shrewd, sure footed work sets you up for a merry knockabout farce and then deliberately never delivers and yet is somehow more e…

Smelling a Rat

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 3m

Details

Summary
Rex Weasel, the owner of the Vermination Pest Control Company, returns home unexpectedly from a Christmas holiday and hops into a closet when he hears intruders who turn out to be one of his employees and his wife on a spree. They are also forced into hiding when Rex's gormless son enters with his garrulous girlfriend. This subversive comedy is by the acclaimed British filmmaker and author of Abigail's Party and Ecstacy.

Media

"A perfectly tart comedy....One of the brightest and most stimulating shows to be seen in Manhattan in many a month. This shrewd, sure footed work sets you up for a merry knockabout farce and then deliberately never delivers and yet is somehow more entertaining than if it did. The play's comic and satiric genius generates a delirious energy that is rare and satisfying." - The New York Times

"The fun lies in the inevitability that we shall see the bodies come tumbling out of the closet and the skeletons out of the cupboard." - London Guardian

"Leigh has a wonderful gift for conversation so rock bottom boring that it is hilarious." - London Observer

Licensing & Materials

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Authors

Mike Leigh

Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, at Camberwell and Central Art Schools in London, and at the London Film School. He has written and directed over twenty stage plays. These include Babies Grow Old (1974), Abigail's Party (1977), Ecstasy (1979), Goose ...
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