Underpants, The Summary and Reviews

Underpants, The
by Steve Martin

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Book Summary Information

Author: Steve Martin
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-11-20
ISBN: 0786888245
Number of pages: 160
Publisher: Hyperion

Book Reviews of Underpants, The

Book Review: "Thank God your sluttishness has had no consequences."
Summary: 4 Stars

While Louise Maske is waiting for the king to pass by in Dusseldorf, 1910, the fastener on her underpants releases, and they fall about her ankles in public. In a matter of seconds, she has grabbed them and hidden them, and she expects that few, if any, people have noticed. Her husband Theo, however, a government clerk, is furious and fears that he may be fired from his job for her gaffe.

Adapting Carl Sternheim's sociopolitical farce from 1910 into a wildly burlesque romp appealing to a modern audience, actor/writer Steve Martin drops Sternheim's dated political satire and stresses instead the absurdity of instant fame and the unexpected opportunities it presents to people such as Louise Maske. The result might be termed an "anti-bedroom" farce, since the various sexual pairings and recombinations of characters which develop during this play, some of them devoutly wished for, remain outside the bedroom.

The Maskes have an extra bedroom in their apartment, and they quickly find themselves almost overrun with candidates who want to rent it after Louise's "episode." Versati, a poet, sees Louise as his muse, and he is anxious to have an affair with her (and she, him), but after she rents the room to him, she discovers that Theo has also rented it to the sickly Benjamin Cohen, a barber who is willing to walk a long distance to his job, just so he can be in the presence of Louise. The room is subdivided, with each person paying almost full rent. In subsequent action, Louise's friend Gertrude gives Louise sexual advice while she also creates a newer, more beautiful set of undergarments for Louise. Two new characters appear, and several new opportunities for liaisons arise.

The humor is bold and full of sexual innuendo as the verbal jousting takes place, Theo remaining ignorant of the intentions of the renters (and Louise), while engaging in attempts at extracurricular cavorting of his own. The many double entendres, the opportunities for the actors to wink at the audience and use humorous gestures, the talking at cross-purposes, and the use of metaphor by one character to speak suggestively to another while leaving a third person in the dark, all add to the humor of this ribald farce. As the characters attempt to obey their innermost urges, the motif of the Loch Ness monster appears and repeats--"All is calm on the surface, but watch out for what's underneath. That's where the danger lies. Under. Underpants." An amusing comedy with obvious humor. Mary Whipple

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