Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (45)
See it if you like plays that involve the audience; you want to laugh non-stop
Don't see it if you don't have a good sense of humor; you don't like plays that involve the audience directly
See it if you love British humor, particularly by Brits playing Americans poking fun at Brits. There is a tenderness that ekes through that is sweet.
Don't see it if you don't want to learn anything more about behind-the-scenes WW II. Or, if Python-esque humor is not for you. These guys work hard here. Read more
See it if You love seeing small productions that really give it their all. Have a connection to the UK
Don't see it if You don’t like to laugh
See it if you enjoy British humor, or any humor!
Don't see it if you're in a bad mood.
See it if You liked Faulty Towers, physical comedy, verbal witticisms and a lot of hopping around.
Don't see it if You loath corny jokes or emphatic audience participation. Read more
See it if and ONLY if you enjoy Brit humor & slightly slapstick comedy, Brits poking fun at Americans & vice versa, silliness, & men playing women.
Don't see it if you do not enjoy British humor and silliness, hate any audience participation, prefer musicals and drama straight up. Read more
See it if It's a silly humoured romp through the differences between American & British language/ways taking place during training for US GIs in WW ll
Don't see it if Lots of filler in second act; would have benefitted from some input from American writers to mark our take on English custom. Still, its fun
See it if you enjoy British-style humour and don't need much of a plot
Don't see it if you don't like audience participation or multi-character actors
Critic Reviews (17)
"A hilarious and inventive play...See it while you can!...The three-person cast is remarkable with their spirited presentations and comedic talents...These three actors master the play's quick, witty dialogue and quirky characters. Audiences will love the absurd moments...There's even a bit of audience participation...A rare theatrical treat."
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"Some gags amuse, others are groaners, and still others fall into the what-were-they-thinking category. Also, the fun depends on a great deal of audience participation; if humorous interaction with actors makes you break out in hives -- yes, I'm holding up my hand -- this is one to avoid like the plague...Walton's direction keeps things moving, but did no one consider that two hours-plus might be a tad excessive for this kind of sketch-comedy frivolity."
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"In the intervening eight decades, the Bodleian publication has undoubtedly been ripe for spoofing, but, let’s face it, less so as time has passed. But perhaps even in 2019 a send-up treatment could provide a keg of laughs. If so, Messrs. March, Millard Sheahan, and Walton are apparently not the ones to do it. They’ve imagined a series of revue-type routines that tickle the elusive funny bone only at scattered moments but are far more often strained."
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“It’s one thing to emulate Monty Python, another to rip them off, as do the creators of this prolonged skit, very loosely – and louchely...As these two ugly Americans relentlessly troll for cheap laughs, there seems to be no acknowledgment on the part of the writing team...Only the third writer/performer manages to wrest a smidgen of palatable humor from the proceedings, via a chalkboard lecture on the English monetary system and a comparable intro to cricket.”
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"It's hard to imagine a more likeable play than 'Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain'. That is not damning with faint praise. It's merely the truth. Likability is in short supply nowadays and the three playwright/performers who created this comedy, based on an actual pamphlet handed to Americans during World War II, have spun the dry, inadvertently funny, official publication into a delightfully involving charmer. (Copies of the actual pamphlet are available in the lobby.)"
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"The cast of three, who co-wrote the show with their director, John Walton, come from the world of sketch comedy, and it shows. The play feels like 'Monty Python' had a baby with all the bits that go on way too long on 'Saturday Night Live.' Though its gags aren't especially original, some of them still produce giggles...If you're game for jokes about Marmite and cricket and want to get in on the cultural-stereotype action, tally-ho!"
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"A baloney-filled, rollicking comedy that has all the inherent hilarity of poking fun at cultural differences...This high-spirited night ended when the men showed us, the troops, how Brits relaxed, through Morris Dancing, a version of the Hokie Pokey with hankies. This fun-filled show was able to capture the humor of the Brits with a nod to the tribulations of war."
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"The show draws its tepid lifeblood from a 1942 booklet that was distributed by the American War Office to GIs serving overseas...The mood is not so much World War II cabaret as it is Saturday night at the nursing home...With John Walton’s keep-em-moving direction and Mr. March’s clown foolery, all moments of subtlety are decidedly missing in action."
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