A woman, with the help of a man, nervously sets out to tell us all a joke: A man walks into a bar and meets a waitress. As they begin to perform the joke for the audience, lines between the performers and characters blur and a tense and funny standoff about gender and power emerges. Is the customer justified in thinking something will happen? Is the waitress justified to lie? Why are some things funny to her and insulting to him? Ownership of the story becomes a competition as the man and woman unpack every word and movement, catching each other out on their assumptions and contradictions as they inch towards the dark punchline.
Cast size: 2 actors
Male roles: 1
Female roles: 1
“Named as an OUTSTANDING NEW PLAY, OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION, OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE, OUTSTANDING DIRECTION”
—Now Magazine
“Blair artfully tantalizes us with what could be a cute romantic scenario, only to starkly expose the misunderstanding — to say nothing of the vicious misogyny — that still blights male-female relationships in the 21st century.”
— Torontoist
“There is a punchline to A Man Walks Into a Bar. But it’s more like a gut-punch: it hits low, it hits hard, and it hits close to home. And everybody needs to see it.”
— Mooney on Theatre