Cariad Lloyd has been cast as the star of a new stage romcom, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City. Set in a cancer ward, the show opens in London next month, two years after its off-broadway run.
Cariad plays Karla, a foul-mouthed twenty-something comedian, who meets Don, a middle-aged man embroiled in a nasty divorce when their mothers, who both have cancer, become roommates in hospital.
American writer Halley Feiffer created the play and describes it as: “a romantic comedy in many senses, that just happens to be set in a cancer hospital.
“It was very loosely inspired by my experience being with my own mother at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre. I was inspired by being in the hospital with someone you love when they’re suffering, when there’s a lot of unanswered questions and when you feel pretty powerless to take their pain and fear away.
“Certainly to take your own pain and fear away is a humbling experience and I found that I was drawn to a lot of self-soothing behaviours which ultimately provided a good deal of relief and ultimately some comedy.”
The New York Times said: “Painfully irresistible! Makes a convincing case that hard laughter is an absolutely appropriate response to those moments when life seems like too bad a joke not to respond otherwise.”
Rob Crouch, Kristen Milward and Cara Chase will join Cariad for the European premiere of the play at the Finborough Theatre in Earls Court, West London, 2nd – 27th October.
