Hie and Hurry Up to Tom, Dick, and Harry

Friday, Nov. 3

A loving and worthy couple have decided to adopt a baby. The soon-to-be father's two brothers decide to help pitch in and make the adoption agency's home visit the very best it could be. What could possibly go wrong?

With the father-son playwright team of Ray and Michael Cooney at the helm, plenty — but at least it's all high hilarity for the audiences who come to see Tom, Dick and Harry at the All An Act Theater. Starting November 3, this side-splitting farce will run throughout the rest of the month, with a very special November 25 performance where all the admission fees go toward the Community Shelter Service's Children's Christmas Drive. Comedic genius and the opportunity to help those less fortunate? That's a winning combination.

Speaking of winning combinations, David W. Mitchell, the co-owner and artistic director of AAA, as well as the director for Tom, Dick and Harry, thought it was time for the company to stage another Cooney play.

"They are hilarious fun for both the audience and the actors," he said. Quick, lively motion on-stage, coupled with the utter "ridiculousness of the situation" as Dick and Harry attempt to help out their brother Tom (while simultaneously keeping their own foibles under wraps), contribute to the "physically exhausting" nature of the play, "because of the break-neck speed and physical comedy bits required to make them work."

Mitchell cited slamming doors, a cadaver's body parts and a duo of non-English speaking Croatians as some of the comedic highlights of Tom, Dick and Harry, but as always, it is the chemistry and joy of the cast and crew at work that make each performance worth catching. — Cara Suppa

7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays // 652 West 17th Street // $12 Adults, $10 Seniors (55+), $10 Students // allanact.net