‘Bible’: It’s hilarious

The show might be the
funniest thing you see locally this year.

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

VINDICATOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Who knew there was so much comic fodder in the Bible?

Hop Skip and Jump Productions boils down the Good Book in an uproariously madcap retelling entitled “The Bible — The Complete Word of God [Abridged].”

An open-ended run of the play was kicked off Friday in the upstairs banquet room of the B&O Station. It will likely be the funniest thing you’ll see all year in local theater.

A creation of the Reduced Shakespeare Company — creators of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged]” — “Bible” is irreverent, witty and sophisticatedly sophomoric. It’s a little on the adult side, but never offensive.

All that the play requires is three men with great comic timing and a love of the material who aren’t afraid to leave everything out on the stage.

That describes to a T the three wise men in monk-robes who comprise the cast: Kyle Snyder, Kevin Wells and Ray Cerimeli.

The wickedly funny script — the laughs come every 10 seconds or so — is doctored here and there to add a local topic or a modern reference (one of the Ten Rejected Commandments: Thou shalt not tap your foot three times in a men’s room stall).

All the major Bible stories are covered in a rapid-fire succession of skits, including Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, the Tower of Babel and a sublimely funny slow-motion re-enactment of David slaying Goliath. And that’s just the first act.

The New Testament (the birth of Jesus to the end of the world) gets worked over in the second half of the play, which clocks in at just under two hours.

Snyder founded Hop Skip and Jump a couple of years ago. The Lisbon native is fresh off his performance as Gaston in Easy Street Production’s “Beauty and the Beast” at Powers Auditorium.

He found ideal cronies in Cerimeli, a Poland native and Youngstown State University student; and Wells, an experienced actor and director from North Canton.

A word about the B&O banquet room: it isn’t large. The 100 or so seats fit in comfortably with a little room to spare. Fortunately, the production doesn’t require much room for a stage.

If anything, the proximity to the actors in the snug space heightens the hilarity of their antics.

X”The Bible — The Complete Word of God [Abridged]” is being performed at 8 p.m. on Fridays at the B&O Station, 530 Mahoning Ave., Youngstown. Tickets are $15. Call (330) 853-7546 or (330) 480-9859.