Film director David Cronenberg once said all stereotypes turn out to be true. As difficult as that may be to swallow, it's easy to see his point. While it's generally appreciated in Pennsylvania and elsewhere that humor about stereotypes (especially negative ones) is impolite, the reality is that it is because stereotypes are rooted in truth that satirists know they can make us laugh at them.

That certainly seems to be the motive behind "Divorce Party The Musical." This play does not feature simple, no-fault, uncontested divorce as its centerpiece. No, this play tends to look at all the negatives most people associate with the worst divorces. It debuted in Florida recently.

"Divorce Party" is a joint work by Mark Schwartz and Amy Botwinick. They bring to the script and songs a sense of their own experiences with stereotypical divorce horrors. They say the play is an effort to share the humor of divorce that they eventually came to see long after the worst days.

The play tells the story of a group of girlfriends who rally to bolster Linda, the lead character, after her recent divorce. Act one starts with the middle-aged Linda balling on the living room floor, all alone, comforted by a pint of Ben & Jerry's.

As things progress, the cast goes through various vignettes that are tied together by parody songs to which the lyrics have been changed. One is a spoof of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." In it, Linda's pals seem to be trying to tease her out of her depression by singing, "I see a little woman wallow in self-pity. Suck it up! Suck it up!"

Shots are taken at lawyers and the fights over property. The play also explores the pain of ugly divorces and the reasons why marriages fail. And while the play prompts divorcees with the motto, "Don't get mad, get everything," by the end, Linda has recovered enough sense of self that she is able to triumphantly see a way to get on with her life.

The thought we're left with is how this take on stereotypical divorce reveals the positive value of an uncontested divorce. It might lack drama, but it lacks the pain, too.

Source: AP, Naples News, "New musical seeks to find humor in divorce," Jan. 15, 2012