About the Play:

The Underpants is a full-length comedy by Steve Martin, adapted from Carl Sternheim's classic 1910 farce. Comic genius Steve Martin brings his comic genius and sophisticated literary style to this hilarious adaptation about a housewife who becomes an overnight celebrity when she accidentally loses her underpants in public. Chaos follows in this witty comedy that explores fidelity, sexuality and hidden desire.

The Underpants is a riotous farce adapted from a playwright often dubbed "the German Molière." Newly married Louise is bored with her demanding and uptight bureaucrat husband. Then one Sunday morning at the royal parade, she jumps up on a bench to see the king go by, and oops! – her bloomers come loose and fall down around her ankles, right in the middle of town in front of everyone – a public scandal! Her husband Theobald Maske is frantic with worry about losing his job and their reputation. Mortified, he swears to keep her at home until she can find some less unruly undies. But amid this chaos suddenly the room they've been trying to rent out has plenty of takers, and it just might have something to do with... the underpants. Legendary comedian and writer Steve Martin makes Carl Sternheim's "racy" German comedy a hilarious look at female empowerment, sudden fame, and the idiocy a beautiful woman inspires in the men who love her.

The Underpants premiered in 2002 to critical acclaim at Classic Stage Company off-Broadway in New York City and has been performed all over America since then.

Cast: 2 female, 5 male

What people say:

"Mr Martin shares (Sternheim's) time-honoured belief in the seriousness of silliness ...an amalgam of comic book and social commentary made out of sex jokes, slamming doors, and sophisticated repartee. The Underpants is often laugh-out-loud funny." — The New York Times

"This is funny stuff ... a fine play ... with funny characters and lightning flashes of wit." — TheaterMania

"The show zings." — citysearch.com

About the Playwright:

Steve Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer. Since the 1980s, having branched away from stand-up comedy, he has become a successful actor, immensely talented playwright and screenwriter as well as banjo player eventually earning Emmy, Grammy, and American Comedy awards. His writing credits include the plays Picasso at the Lapin Agile and W.A.S.P. which both played Off-Broadway; and the screenplays for Shopgirl, The Pink Panther, Bowfinger, L.A. Story and Roxanne, among others.