Q: Do you like snooker? A: I don’t know, I’ve never snooked. But enough joviality. A large problem for The Nap to overcome is that most Americans have never heard of snooker, much less do we understand the rules of the game. It’s tough to absorb why a snooker tournament is so important to people in Britain and around the world. So…forget about it. As it turns out, the game itself is just a platform from which the laughs and the somewhat convoluted plotline are launched. Young Dylan Spokes (Ben Schnetzer) is an ace; his dad Bobby (the somewhat hard to understand John Ellison Conlee) has sacrificed for him. He’s committed any number of petty crimes to finance the building of snooker shed so his son can practice his art. But has his relationship with various unsavory characters put Dylan under a microscope? He’s being confronted by Mohammed Butt (Bhavesh Patel), a snooker official, and police officer Eleanor Lavery (Heather Lind). While all the performers in the ensemble are superb, Lind is a knockout. She manages to be strong, willowy, and sensual all at once. She’s also gorgeous, and with her English accent firmly in place, could be Keira Knightley’s kid sister. Any man would fall for her so, of course, Dylan is soon hooked. Winning at snooker is the least of Dylan’s problems. He knows very well that he is the game. Without it, he’d be just another petty criminal, on the dole, or in harm’s way in the military. But everyone wants a piece of Dylan. There’s his manager, the ridiculously sleazy Tony DanLino (Max Gordon Moore), whose outfits alone are worth a comedy special. Candidate for the Worst Mom Ever, Stella Spokes (Johanna Day) has no trouble whining about her misfortunes and trying to cadge money from Dylan. For good measure, she brings along her boyfriend, the stinky Danny Killeen (Thomas Jay Ryan), who sports a brogue so broad that it should be beaten with a shillelagh. Dylan also has to contend with his sponsor, a transsexual schemer named—wait for it—Waxy Bush (Alexandra Billings). If you thought this joke was funny the first time, check back when you’ve heard it a dozen more. Almost nothing is as it appears, and is often quite a bit worse. Fortunately, if you’re still interested in snooker- remember snooker? – there’s an overhead screen where we can watch the games being played. Real life snooker champ Ahmed Aly Elsayed does a fine job in his matches, although he could be less exuberant when things don’t go his way. As I understand it, The Nap of the title refers to the cover of the table which causes friction on the snooker ball. In this play, there is plenty of friction, and dare we say it, plenty of balls.
