“Fuddy Meers” — especially up close in the cramped confines of the Clarence Brown Theatre — is one of those plays that really forces a response from you, whether you want it or not.
    
Now, it can’t be recommended highly enough that you go into this show with absolutely no knowledge of what’s going on. Whether some shows can get by on acting alone is altogether too subjective a stance to take, but “Fuddy Meers” is so intensely story-driven that it escapes the controversy outright. So while it will be endeavored to give away as little about the story as possible, if you’re planning on seeing this play anytime soon, perhaps it would be wise to abstain from this review.
    
That being said, the premise of the show is about a woman who wakes up every morning with total amnesia. It takes a few bewildering minutes to figure this out from the interactions in the opening scene, but when you do, the tone — a seamless combination of very light-hearted, energetic humor and the inescapable darkness of reality — is really set for the entirety of the play.
    
Our heroine, Claire — the one who loses her memory every time she goes to sleep — could not be a finer sponge for empathy in a more bizarre situation. She is upbeat, strong, receptive to new information, and intelligently and often lightly ironically responds to the creeping weirdness around. Though her immediate path is initially determined by others, she dynamically responds to every new scrap of new information in a world full of people with their own motivations. Also, she’s in pajamas for the entirety of the show.
    
With the tone set, it and the action escalate rather quickly. There is never a dull moment in the first half of the play as the realization of her terrible affliction and the idleness of her day-to-day memory-less existence abruptly changes. With two rather selfish advocates for what her reality really is, the play is simply too swiftly paced to try to be a detective — and we don’t even have enough to go on as it is. We’re ultimately absorbed by the great dysfunction of the people surrounding Claire, who all have their own motives for keeping reality and the circumstances of her condition a secret.
   
 The truth also comes to a great extent from within Claire, as she is kidnapped and taken to her mother (who herself is no great source of clues, as she is a functional stroke victim who can’t talk), and few of the questions and subplots leading up to the chaotic, violent climax at the end of the first half are left unanswered by Claire’s steadily increasing coherence; except for the bittersweet ending, where Claire finally sleeps after having both answered and come to terms with the cause of her affliction.
    
Humor comes in the form of corniness, cuteness, slapstick, poignant irony, as well as well placed expletives and drug humor, but is ultimately generated from just how messed up everyone besides Claire is. There’s a schizophrenic supporting character who, though meek himself, constantly talks to (and through) a vulgar, criminally insane sock puppet; and there’s the pot-smoking, distant and dysfunctional teen who is Claire and her mysteriously friendly husband’s son; they play off of each other quite well, and the sheer tension that is felt throughout this bipolar story creates many genuine laughs. Hilarity does indeed ensue from the outset.
   
 “Fuddy Meers” is an effective play. The small scale and scarcity of the props create a really intimate environment where the acting and story really demand your attention, and the cast, crew and presentation were flawless. It’s nice to feel forced to feel a wide range of often conflicting emotions sometimes, and this show really delivers.