Take one recently-divorced slob of a sportswriter and one soon-to-be-divorced uptight newswriter. Put them together in an apartment and watch as personalities clash, hi-jinks ensue, and a lifelong friendship turns sour. If it sounds like a recipe for a piece of lamely innocuous family-friendly comedy, it’s because in the past it has been. ‘The Odd Couple’ has been adapted so many times since its 1965 Broadway debut that its basic premise (let’s call it the love-hate bromance) has become one of the standard tropes for the lazy comic writer, spawning endless derivative knock-offs as well as faithful adaptations. But the reason that this play has been picked apart and put together again so many times is that, done right, it really is completely hilarious -- as proven by 3rd Culture Theatre and East West Theatre’s take on it, running at Chinatown until July 3.

Silly, punny and funny, this production is true to Neil Simon’s original script, which incorporates sharp wordplay and one-liners (“Why take a pill when you can take a girl?”) as well as setting up more complex jokes and visual gags, which the cast clearly had the time of their lives with on the opening night, last Wednesday. There’s no doubt that director Jonathan Geenen knows how to get the best out of his actors. They made use of every square inch of the stage while their lines ricocheted off each other, making pulling off a 1960s Broadway play 46 years on in Shanghai look absurdly easy; so easy, in fact, that it could inspire you to quit their day job and sign yourself up for a life treading the boards.

And then you’d most likely be destitute, because it actually isn’t easy at all. The cast is just really damn good. In particular, the two leads (Jim Bennett as Oscar and Charles Mayer as Felix) could not have been better chosen, both for their visual contrast with each other and their capacity to play up the precise quirks the script calls for. Mayer, for example, is obviously someone who understands the powerful comic potential of a very tall man merely standing in dejected silence, and many of the largest laughs from the audience came when the actors hadn’t said anything at all.

Chinatown itself is an excellent venue for this play; in all its art deco, velvet-draped glory, it recreates the glamour and decadence of a traditional theatre-going experience, but scaled down to a size that promotes a sense of intimacy. Because most of the audience was able to sit just a few feet from the stage, the actors were able to fully exploit their gifts for using their facial expressions to elicit laughs. No arched eyebrow or comically melancholy glance was lost, and the play was all the more amusing for it.

There are many areas in which this production succeeds; ultimately, though, there’s only one question that truly matters when it comes to comedy: “Is it funny?” The answer, in the case of ‘The Odd Couple’, is -- emphatically -- yes. If laughter really is therapeutic, then the medicinal value of this performance is through the roof. Think of the savings you could make on future doctor’s bills - well worth shelling out the price of a ticket.

'The Odd Couple' runs until July 3 at Chinatown. Tickets info and details here.

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