Considerations for Funny Thing Happened
1. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical written by Stephen Sondheim, Burt Shevelove, and Larry Gelbart. The three collaborated on the work, which had a Broadway debut on May 8, 1962. It ran for a total of 964 performances and closed on August 29, 1964. 2. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is the title of this work. This leads us to believe the play will be a comedy and that many “funny things” will occur. As one will soon notice, the play parodies many aspects of Plautus’ work Pseudolus. 3. The cast list is enclosed with the play. . The play takes two hundred years before the Christian era, on a day in spring. The action occurs on a street in Rome, in front of the houses of Erronius, Senex, and Lycus and is continuous, with only one intermission. The theatregoer knows that the work will be a comedy; also, provided one has knowledge with Plautus’ play, he may have a general idea as of the plot of this parody. 5. The major conflict is Pseudolus vs. Miles Gloriosus. Pseudolus, trying to gain his freedom from Hero, tries to thwart Miles’ purchase of Hero’s love interest, Philia.
The inciting incident is when Hero informs Pseudolus that he can be free if he arranges them together. Without this happening, the rest of the events of the play would never have happened. Some complications arise when our protagonists learn of Philia’s impending sale to Miles. Also, Senex sees the opportunity for an affair with Philia because she thinks he is Miles; he thinks she is a maid. The climactic scene occurs when the watcher discovers that Philia and Miles are the long lost children of Erronius. Thus, Miles voids his purchase arrangement for Philia; Philia can marry Hero and Pseudolus gains his freedom. 6.
The overall situation in this work is the fact that Hero wants to marry a beautiful virginal woman. If he did not have this desire, Pseudolous would not have managed to concoct such a great tale, and win his freedom. The point-of-attack is rather early in the play as the conflict begins right away. 7. a. Pseudolus: He is a Roman slave, owned by Hero who wants to win his freedom by gaining the heart of Philia. Pseudolus is very witty and clever, although this wit just gets him into a deeper and deeper hole each time. b. Hero: He is in love with Philia and does not play an overly major role in the story; he is also Senex’s son. c.
Philia: She is a virgin in the house of Marcus Lycus and is the object of Hero’s affection. She is very beautiful, but perhaps dimwitted, as she believes Senex is her owner. Her name means love in Greek. d. Miles Gloriosus- A captain in the Roman army, Miles has purchased Philia from Marcus and returns to Rome to pick her up. He soon is lead on a literal wild goose chase before he realizes she is actually his sister. e. Hysterium: The very name implies someone who is extremely anxious and over emotional. He is the chief slave to Senex and Domina, Hero’s parents. He pretends to be Philia when Pseudolus says she died from the plague. . The major theme is that everything is not always what it seems and that sometimes interventions happen for a reason. No one knew that Miles and Philia were related or that Erronius actually played an integral part to the story. At least when I read it, I cast Erronius aside as the crazy character who really had no role. If it would have not been for Pseudolus’ shenanigans their connection would never have been realized. 9. The mood of this play is definitely comic. The audience should come away from watching this play laughing and in improved spirits. The play ends happily and well, as all conflict has been resolved.
