By Bart Greenberg***Theater 2020, a professional company based in Brooklyn Heights that offers low-scale but polished productions, is devoting this season to making their audiences smile. Next up is Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors, but the current offering is Burt Shevelove, Larry Gelbart and Stephen Sondheim’s riotous 
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, the wacky distillation of several comedies by the ancient Roman playwright Plautus, mixed up by the modern artists with burlesque routines, English pantomime pieces and anachronistic antics. The new offering, directed by David Fuller, has added some touches of his own, with references to A Chorus Line, Funny Girl and The Fly. The Fly? Yep, it was there if you were listening.
On a basic set, with some clever cartoon background projections by Lily Isaacson, a company of energetic and willing actors took on a story of: a slave yearning to be free, his fellow slave and unenthusiastic ally, his youthful virginal owner, the boy’s battling parents, a neighborhood procurer and his bevy of professional ladies, plus an innocent (and stupid) virginal girl engaged to a preening captain, and the addled old man wanting to find his missing twins. All of them have something they specifically want, often conflicting with everyone else. And that is what drives 
the farce.
The chief mover/schemer is the star role of Pseudolus, the slave, here performed by Ben Schrager, with all the required energy and joy of manipulating everyone in sight. Robert Fischetti as his partner in crime, Hysterium, could use a bit more of the zaniness that the role requires. Gillian Mackay Brown has fun with the procurer Marcus Lycus, especially when posing as a leper, while Michael Gnat does a great deal with a small amount of stage time as the addled old man. And Jordan Wolk as Miles Gloriosus captures the vanity of the military man, if not quite his danger, which that drives much of the plot.
And then there are the young lovers. Innocence may be the most difficult quality to convey on stage, especially coupled with a very low level of intelligence. Hero and Philia seem to be Sondheim’s warm up for the romantics in Sweeny Todd, though they gained a few IQ points in the transition. Christian James Potterton brought a goofy charm and a sweet voice to Hero, but it is Rae Hillman who is the secret weapon of the production. 
She couples a beautiful face to a gorgeous soprano; beyond that she brought an impressive comic timing worthy of a Goldie Hawn or a Judy Holiday to her “dumb blond—though not blond” persona.
The limited-budget production displayed great creativity in its cost cutting. Double casting the Proteans and the courtesans led to some very funny moments as the portrayers had to juggle costumes and personalities. Ayanna Charity, Sofia Faus, Tommy Kelly, Ariella Silvina Hanson Mandel and Anna Stanley did yeoman work, with a bit of puppetry borrowed from Avenue Q. The contemporary costumes by Robert Jay Pugh added some color and flair, and the lighting design of Giles Hogya served its purpose. Judith Jarosz’ choreography also added some fun to a show that doesn’t really rely on dancing. Josh Cleveland served as music director and pianist, and occasionally got involved in the chaos with good humor.
The major drawback in the production is one of pacing—specially in the first act, whhere both the dialogue and the songs were delivered at perhaps three-quarters speed. Picking it up would increase the humor and lessen the needed suspension of disbelief of the bonkers story. Perhaps more confidence in the material will raise the tempo. At this point it is more a stroll to the Forum, rather than the race required. Still, there are certainly many charms already available.
