Great Tuna is a comedy that touches upon some very serious subjects. Looking at American culture from the perspective of a very, very small town in the middle of nowhere the play employs humor to lampoon bigotry in all its forms. This is by no means a new device: Comedy has been used almost since its inception to comment on society. Comedy writers and producers from Aristophanes to Moliere to Norman Lear have touched on social issues.

Moliere’s famous play Tartuffe was a stirring – yet hysterically funny – denouncement of religious zealotry and a declaration of the foolishness of the upper class. These issues were so controversial that the play could not be performed for many years.

In 1970 All in The Family premiered on television to hang the Bunker family’s laundry out to dry. The show’s often-controversial plots dealt with racism, political ideology, sex and even death. Archie Bunker, the pater familias, was extremely bigoted and, as he learned to accept others, America learned right along with him.

Greater Tuna follows in this proud tradition of social commentary by helping us laugh at the small-minded and bigoted attitudes that are still prevalent in our culture, thereby defusing our fear of them