Getting comfort and laughs from Job via the Ancon Theater Guild

Newsroom theater critic

There was a time when most people knew the origin of the phrase. Job’s comforter.

Most, certainly in countries that called themselves Christian, knew the story of Job and his tribulations and had likely read it in “the Good Book,” or been told it in church or Sunday school.
On checking around with a group of English speaking students over the weekend, I found only one that had heard of the stalwart sufferer, and he thought the name was pronounced like the job he was currently seeking.
Some of those students should be heading for the Theatre Guild of Ancon later this week to find out that the old guy is alive and well and producing a bellyful of laughs in God's Favorite a hilarious comedy written by Neil Simon.
The playwright brings the Book of Job from the Old Testament into the modern era. In the biblical version God tells the Devil that there is a man whose faith in Him is so great that he would not renounce God no matter how much suffering he is subjected to, and this man is Job. Neil Simon has recreates the believer as Joe Benjamin (JoB), a tycoon living in a Long Island mansion with his wife and three children. He is visited by a “Messenger” who tells him that the only way to save his business, his family and himself is by renouncing God. After a series of funny tragedies, involving the family and staff, Joe still refuses to renounce God; the “Messenger” admits defeat but still has the chutzpah to ask for a letter of recommendation.
"Awesomely funny…the work of a man of vision. It'll make you laugh out loud." Said the New York Daily News when it first appeared.
With the talent that is always available at the Ancon Theatre Guild, expect the rafters of Panama's refurbished theatrical icon to be shaking.
Directed by Carlos Williams and produced by Gale Celucci it will be a bargain at $15
Performances run Thursday through Saturday, starting on February 17, and again on February 24. Performances start at 8 p.m., but you won't want to miss the socializing around the patio bar before the show. How else will you know who needs a little comforting?