"Funny as a Crutch" sends up disability with comedy

From the NY Times review Nov. 6. In the picture, Shannon DeVido, center, performs in “The New Land,” with from left, Stephen Jutras, Frank Senger, Mary Theresa Archbold and Gregg Mozgala.

Among the many, many pleasures of “Funny as a Crutch,” a bill of nine short plays performed by five actors with disabilities, is watching Shannon DeVido steal every scene she’s in.

Ms. DeVido, who uses a wheelchair, is in conventional terms the least mobile member of the troupe, but her stage presence and comic timing are exquisite, meshing perfectly with Rich Orloff’s witty, unpredictable script.

Her four cast mates — Gregg Mozgala, Mary Theresa Archbold, Frank Senger and Stephen Jutras — have great moments too, and Jeffrey C. Wolf, the director, keeps things lively and collision-free on the tiny stage of the Dorothy Strelsin Theater at the Abingdon Theater Arts Complex.

Each piece has disability as a theme, but Mr. Orloff fends off pity and preachiness with a daffy sense of humor. The closing sketch, “Cripperella” (with Ms. DeVido in the title role), is a skewed take on the Cinderella fairy tale.

“Toes” is an absurdist story in which Mr. Mozgala, playing Ms. DeVido’s fiancé, fails to win the approval of her parents (Mr. Senger and Ms. Archbold) because of the smallest imperfection. And “Just One of Those Things” is a miniature masterpiece of understatement and insight featuring Mr. Mozgala as a job seeker and Ms. Archbold as the interviewer who can’t see past his “thing” (Mr. Jutras, dressed in a ridiculous costume).

But not every moment in this production by the Foolish Theater Company is light. “All That He Can Be,” with Mr. Senger as an armed forces recruiter and Mr. Mozgala as a young man trying to follow his family’s military tradition, is just plain touching.

“Funny as a Crutch” continues through Nov. 23 at the Abingdon Theater Arts Complex, 312 West 36th Street, Clinton, NY City.