Theater Online - New York Theater Reviews

The fun romp of a musical “Improbable Frequency” playing at 59E59 will delight fans of satire and skillfully executed mayhem. An ensemble of expert comic actors brings to life a colorful array of characters including spies, saucy maidens, eccentric Germans, and subversive agents in a tale about not-so-neutral Ireland during the Second World War. Arthur Riordan’s clever book and lyrics center around word play with plenty of puns. Concentration is key for following the storyline as nearly the entire show is written in verse with quite a bit of it performed as patter songs and the sing-speak style of Rex Harrison. Beautiful voices singing beautiful songs is not the goal of this musical. Instead, Bell Helicopter’s whimsical music with circus undertones and dashes of Gaelic influence adeptly serves the madcap universe that these riotous characters inhabit.

The musical follows the adventure of Tristram Faraday (played excellently by Peter Hanly), an English journalist with a knack for solving crossword puzzles and anagrams. He opens the show explaining to the audience that:

Some of us were born to be spies
Taking easily to the shadow dance,
The ad hoc loyalties and the brutal romance…
…Not me, though, I sort of fell into it by chance.

Suddenly christened a field agent, Tristram is sent to Ireland to investigate coded messages aired on a daily radio program. Cherishing their newfound independence from Britain and prized neutrality in the war, the Irish are not keen on having the nosy Brit poking around. As Tristram probes deeper he witnesses an unusual array of strange and highly improbably events causing him to fear for his life and the future of Ireland.

After receiving rave reviews in Ireland and England, “Improbably Frequency,” a creation of the Rough Magic Theatre Company of Dublin, Ireland, is receiving its American debut. It may not have the strongest plot in the world, and the humor occasionally borders on crass, but if you’re in the mood for a bit of zany fun, there’s no better way to satisfy your appetite.