Notable for its masterly blending of comedy and drama and meticulous attention to the ordinary details of everyday life, The Show-Off revolves around a working class Irish family in North Philadelphia in the mid 1920’s. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher and their 3 adult children are thrown into a state of turmoil when Amy, their middle child, brings home a preposterous suitor named Aubrey Piper. A compulsive liar with delusions of grandeur, Aubrey meets his match in Mrs Fisher, the crusty, no-nonsense matriarch of the family. A battle of wits ensues and the outcome is a vindication (of sorts!) of the American con man.

Penned by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, George Kelly, The Show-Off has earned its reputation as one of a handful of classic American stage comedies that continue to “hold up” decades after being written.

The sets are gorgeous, the costumes are gorgeous and frankly, Annette O’Toole is really, really gorgeous, too. Oh, sure, they’ve tried to tone her down, as the acidulous and earthy Mrs. Fisher in George Kelly’s The Show-Off, produced by the Peccadillo Theatre Company, but she’s gorgeous still, and more importantly, she’s game. She proves again and again that she’s up for anything and (gleefully) takes us along for the ride. The Show-Off, perhaps Kelly’s best-known comedy, is about a brash, disagreeable con man, Aubrey Piper (played with aplomb by Ian Gould), who steals the youngest daughter’s love away from a hardworking Philadelphia family. Aubrey’s ridiculous stories and unbelievable lies contain some surprising reveals later in the play that I won’t give away. It’s a frothy, silly period piece with a lot of heart and some interesting comments regarding the institution of marriage. Wendy Wasserstein once wrote, “George Kelly’s plays are not edgy. They do not confront an audience with…rage…There is nothing politically correct or incorrect about them.” However true, the production at St. Clement’s that I witnessed had some edge, rage, and some political incorrectness, as well. …Read more