Press:

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"It is possible that there isn’t enough French farce in the world. Mark Shanahan’s delightful update of this nineteenth-century classic takes its spirited door-slamming to a series of vaguely nineteen-thirties, vaguely Parisian hotel rooms... You won’t regret your evening in the Hotel Ultimus—but keep an eye on your spouse, and your hat."  

 - The New Yorker

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"The DingDong, a Feydeau sex farce adapted by Mark Shanahan and reset in 1938, was a hilarious, dazzlingly acted production about pure social decadence, oblivious to the noxious political cataclysm about to engulf France, i.e., World War II."

-CRITICS PICK BEST OF THE YEAR

Front Row Center

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"Hilarious!"

- The New York Times

 

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"Ferociously funny and somewhat surreal!"

- Front Row Center

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"A play designed in every way to make you laugh... All of the actors are wonderfully over the top and having a great time... Can’t fail to entertain. A thoroughly engaging, thoroughly silly frolic, and just what you need as summer winds to a close."

-Chicago On Stage 

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"The Dingdong, adroitly adapted by Mark Shanahan from Feydeau's Le Dindon, abounds in such silliness.... Impeccable, especially in the first scene in Act II, which rivals the crowded cabin room scene in the Marx Brothers’ Monkey Business for brilliantly choreographed insanity...But the great fun here is in watching this talented cast double and triple up on roles." 

- New York Theatre Guide

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"The DingDong is laugh-out-loud hilarious... anybody looking for a laugh-fest would be well advised to make the acquaintance of  The DingDong!"

- Theatre Pizzazz

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"Sex is on everyone’s brain in the fitfully funny “The Dingdong...” Lough out loud funny!"

- Florida News Press

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"A madcap, Paris-set sex farce about love and fidelity in marriage... Here, playwright Mark Shanahan has done an excellent job of adapting George Feydeau’s Le Dindon into a piece of theater that retains the spirit and structure of your traditional French farce while at the same time speaks viscerally to present-day audiences.... an inspired, well-oiled machine. 

- The Hangover Report

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"George Feydeau is one of the most famous writers of bedroom farce, and Mark Shanahan’s adaptation is a remarkable homage. Witty banter, along with exaggerated physicality, are at the heart of The Dingdong. Even the most pursed lip might be cajoled to laugh out loud. "

- OffOnline

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"Brilliantly [adapted] by Mark Shanahan from George Feydeau’s original French text Le Dindon from 1896... A slapstick journey where we laugh at multiple couples as they bumble their way in and out of bed...the brilliance of the text, snazzy costume changes, and slapstick humor makes The Dingdong a lovely night out... This show does everything right... wonderful to witness!"

- Plays To See

 

"Mark Shanahan’s clever American adaptation... has a great many delicious one-liners and double-entendres as well as witty exchanges between the warring couples. Much of the fun of the play is seeing the same actors return over and over again in different roles often within a matter of seconds. "

- Theatre Scene

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"A brisk and frisky spree!... [Mark Shanahan] has added a clever dash of wizardry... the entire menagerie is performed by a cast of only five...Time and again, we see a player depart and—presto chango!—return moments or mere seconds later as someone else...  The Dingdong is a zippy merry-go-round of interchangeability, suggesting, if you care to think about it, that we’re all the same underneath...A nifty little spree which clocks in at under two hours."

- The Huffington Post

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"Delivers laughs...Silly fun abounds in the bed-hopping, door-slamming sex farce "The Dingdong, or How the French Kiss"... a technical theatrical joy, and a hectic workout for the cast and crew...

There's no question about the genuine laughs produced by "The Dingdong."

-The Chicago Daily Herald

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