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Review: Colorful characters punch up ‘The Nap’

Snooker, anyone? Anyone? British plays may be as abundant on Broadway as mushrooms in a rain-soaked forest, but “The Nap,” by Richard Bean, may seem exotic even to the most obsessive theatrical Anglophile.

Max Gordon Moore, Bhavesh Patel, Ben Schnetzer, John Ellison Conlee and Heather Lind. (Photo: Joan Marcus)

Snooker, anyone?

Anyone?

British plays may be as abundant on Broadway as mushrooms in a rain-soaked forest, but “The Nap,” by Richard Bean, may seem exotic even to the most obsessive theatrical Anglophile. This new comedy by the author of the celebrated “One Man, Two Guvnors” takes place in the world of professional snooker, a sport that makes the once-arcane curling seem about as familiar as football — American football, that is.

In brief, snooker is a form of billiards played on a larger table and with a more complex set of rules for scoring. A smidgen of interest in the game might be helpful for enjoyment of the play, but it’s not precisely necessary. For while those expecting a rollicking sequel to “One Man” may go away feeling, well, snookered, “The Nap” has enough earthily funny dialogue, vibrant comic characters and twisty plotting to keep a steady grip on our attention.

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