Answering the question, “what if Avenue Q took place in a hospital?” Potty The Plant is a dark, tongue in cheek, comedic musical that subverts our expectations time and time again. It’s a musical where we do wonder which character has the braincells and the answer is none of them, leading to all sorts of slapstick shenanigans and hilarity.
Silly seriousness
When children start to go missing at Little Boo Boos Hospital, Potty the Plant (Baden Burns) and Nurses Mel (Stephanie Cubello), Steven (Sam Ridley), and Dave (Zach Burns) investigate all the mysterious events surrounding the intimidating Dr. Acular (Alex Singh).
The lyrics and humour in this show are mature and self-aware, playing on our expectations and assumptions of where a joke might be going, and it is this assumption versus the actual punchline is where most of the comedy stems from, as well as the running jokes that appear throughout the show. This is due to Potty the Plant’s depiction and aesthetic that resembles a children’s TV show, but in making it for adults, it has more opportunities to play around with the form and push the limits of the jokes that it can get away with. The cast’s comic timing and commitment to the gag makes the delivery of the show’s comedy exceptionally funny as well as make sure that the jokes land.
Potty The Plant is incredibly dark and pushes the limits of its material. The silly seriousness of the acting and plot provide a lot of opportunities to laugh and entertainment over the course of the hour.
