Making God Laugh at Lake Country Playhouse

Kicking off LCP's third year of Summer Staged Readings, Making God Laugh is a family comedy that takes place in four scenes, each ten years apart, set at various holidays. Starting in 1980, the newly “launched” kids – a priest, an aspiring actress, and a former star football player – all return home, where we learn of their plans and dreams as they embark on their adult lives. 

The “empty nest” parents contend with their own changes too, as old family rituals and dubious recipes are trotted out and ancient tensions flare up. Over the course of thirty years’ worth of celebrations – Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Eve and Easter – we see how, despite what we may have in mind, we often arrive at unexpected destinations.

As Woody Allen once said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans…”

Regional Reviews

“…such a moving and funny show that it would, indeed, make Him laugh.”
~Chicago Sun-Times

“I wanted to experience a play that had something to say about life, my life and make me laugh.  I got it all last Saturday night.”
~Johnson County Gazette

“…funny, cleverly written, a wonderful mixture of laughable incidents that have serious undertones that ultimately get worked out and some gifted acting.”
~Knight Arts-Akron

“Grennan’s play is shot through with sentimentality, but also authentic truths about identity and belonging.”
~Newsday

THREE PERFORMANCES ONLY
Friday, June 9 @ 7:30pm
Saturday, June 10 @ 7:30pm (Followed by Talkback with Sean Grennan!)
Sunday, June 11 @ 2:00pm

Following the Saturday, June 10th performance, join us for a talkback with playwright Sean Grennan!

Sean Grennan is an actor and writer, originally from Oak Park, Illinois. He has appeared on stages around the country including Chicago, New York, Florida, and Kansas City. His favorite show to date was Rap Master Ronnie, a musical revue by Gary Trudeau and Elizabeth Swados, where he met his wife, Kathy Santen. They have been together since 1984 and have had the opportunity to act opposite one another numerous times. Sean has appeared in the movies The Untouchables and Rudy and on TV in Law & Order CI, Law & Order SVU, Mindhunter, Early Edition, The Human Factor, The Untouchables, Unsolved Mysteries, Staring Back, and others. He has also appeared in many regional and national commercials and industrials. In 2019, Kathy finished a 13-year run in Broadway’s Wicked. After spending most of their lives in Chicago and New York City, Sean and Kathy now live in Pennsylvania where they share a lovely home, canoe, golf cart, and office space with their excellent dog, Hank. Sean is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, SAG/AFTRA, and The Dramatists Guild.