Big Boys
a comedy by Rich Orloff
Cast: 2 M
“Rip-roaringly funny. An on-target skewering of the ethically murky cesspool among corporate America’s elite. With its snappy dialogue and non-stop mayhem, BIG BOYS proves a winner.”
New York Times
“A truly funny show. A couple of hours spent in the giddily absurd world of BIG BOYS can wreak havoc with one’s gyroscope of logic and priorities.”
Asbury Park Press
BIG BOYS is a two-character comedy about the relationship between a self-satisfied, grandiose, amoral and very successful boss, and his insecure, moral, eager-to-please and very unhappy assistant. Influenced by the surreal energy and comic rhythms of vaudeville comedy, BIG BOYS is an over-the-top comic fable about what men value and what they’ll do to get it.
awards
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Winner - 2000 Auricle Award, Portland OR
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Winner - 1997 InterPlay International Play Festival, Rochester NY
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2nd Place - 2002 Kaufman and Hart Prize for New American Comedy
more critical praise
“BIG BOYS is well-timed. The scathing two-character comedy explores the unethical behavior of a greedy and corrupt CEO who badgers, bullies and harasses his nerdy new recruit. His dialogue has a distinctive rhythm and boasts the kind of rapid-fire repartee with which Matthau and Lemmon would have had a field day.”
Variety
“As blisteringly funny a screwball comedy as you will find”
TimeOFF New Jersey
“Hard-edged satire mixes with lighter humor and well-tuned wordplay. An engaging, funny dynamic.”
Milwaukee Express
“Sharp and punchy, it could not be more relevant, as our culture struggles to find the sweet spot between honor and success in business. Opening night theatergoers laughed a lot.”
On Milwaukee
“It’s funny! Absurd in a Marx Brothers sort of way, BIG BOYS is a fine-tuned study in silliness, with clever word play.”
Philadelphia Inquirer
“BIG BOYS will crack you up. A high-speed combination of THE OFFICE and THE DEVIL WEARS PRAVDA, the jokes come quickly, and are sharp and witty. Rich Orloff is a master of his craft.”
Montgomery News
“It's all in fun (with) non-stop naughty laugh lines.”
Cleveland Plain Dealer
“a non-stop fury of funny”
Sacramento News-Review
“touching upon painful truths, while building almost ceaseless laughter”
Charlotte Arts a la Mode
“Big business meets the Marx Brothers’ MONKEY BUSINESS in Rich Orloff’s BIG BOYS. For those who assumed that theater of the absurd died in the 60’s, here it is, as this entertaining evening proves.”
Newark Star Ledger
“One rib-tickling and mind-tingling episode after another.”
The Link
“The actors deftly dish out the playwright’s dazzling comic arsenal. Get a ticket to BIG BOYS.”
The Daily Record
“BIG BOYS is a ripping riff on corporate amorality and abuse of power. The two-character play is a veritable cartoon, and a damn clever one it is.”
Two River Times
"BIG BOYS is a raw - and witty - send-up of corporate people and policies.”
The Coaster
“A wickedly funny play.”
TriCity News
“BIG BOYS is a whacked-out, well-crafted, two-person play.”
Princeton One
“A delicious new comedy”
Bergen County Record
“A very funny play indeed”
Redbank
production history
New Jersey Rep (co-premiere)
Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey (co-premiere)
Actors’ Summit, Cleveland
Actors’ Theatre of Charlotte
Actors’ Theatre of Santa Cruz
The B Street Theatre, Sacramento
Montgomery Theatre, Philadelphia
Next Act Theatre, Milwaukee
