Broadway’s brand new, side-splitting farce is an outrageous tale of sex, betrayal and desire as one woman decides to expose her latest affair to both her husband — and to her lover’s wife. The true meaning of fate and faith, identity and infidelity, love and marriage are all called into question as a surprising and hilarious web of secrets unravels in this ridiculously funny romantic comedy.
I suppose it’s when we least expect them that feelings hit the hardest, so a bedroom farce in the style of Noël Coward becomes a likely candidate for a brief, biting moment of meditation on true, disinterested love. Sandy Rustin’s The Cottage, which has been making its rounds through regional theatres before landing at Broadway’s Hayes Theatre, is a well-crafted comedy with simple, sturdy laughs. Directed by Jason Alexander and set in the 1923 British countryside, it often feels like the ‘90s sitcom, or 2010s prestige, version of that—if Coward oversaw the unlikely consummation of Seinfeld and Downton Abbey. The laughs are there, thanks to a comedically fine-tuned cast, but, befitting a bed-hopping plot, a tender, surprising altruism keeps them on your face.
But the humor is so devoid of reality that the laughs become increasingly strained. The plot twists have little impact since we’re so little invested in the characters or situations, and with its two-hour running time the evening has the feel of an elongated Carol Burnett Show sketch (Harvey Korman and Burnett would have made a great Beau and Sylvia, with Tim Conway as Clarke and Vicki Lawrence as the pregnant Marjorie. But it would have been 8-10 minutes, tops). It’s hard to see exactly who The Cottage is for, since even a first-class Coward revival would have a tough go of it on Broadway without major star power. It’s a play whose ideal audiences have by now passed on to become blithe spirits themselves.
Digital Rush
Price: $39
Where: On the Today Tix app.
When: Released on a first-come, first-served basis every performance day at 9 AM.
Limit: Two per customer
Information: Subject to availability.
2023 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Sydney Maresca |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play | Alex Moffat |
2024 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Scenic Design (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Paul Tate DePoo III |
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