“Laughter on the 23rd Floor” at Center Players (Freehold)

Set in 1953, Neil Simon's "flat-out funniest play in years" re-creates the mayhem, neuroses, nonstop gags, and constant one-upmanship of a team of brilliantly funny social misfits as they write The Max Prince Show, a weekly variety program. The writers are devoted to their boss, Max, a comic genius, a tyrant, and a paranoiac with a heart of gold. However, his penchant for tippling and popping too many pills is growing under the pressures of a rising McCarthyism and network executives who want him to cut back his "too-smart" show and staff so that they can chase after the Leave It to Beaver and Father Knows Best audience.