The Play’s the Thing
Reviewed by Iris Mann
Theatre 40
Through June 12
Despite admirable production values and a good cast, the first act of this farce fails to ignite, although the second act picks up considerably and actually offers some deliciously funny moments. The play, set in the 1920s, is taken from a three-act comedy called Play at the Castle written in 1924 by Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnar. Among Molnar’s weightier and more timeless works is the play Liliom, on which the classic musical Carousel is based. Play at the Castle was adapted in English by the British wit, P.G. Wodehouse, and given the title The Play’s the Thing, a nod to one of Hamlet’s most famous lines. For the current production, acts one and two have been combined into one very long first act.
The story begins as playwright Sandor Turai (Daniel Leslie), his collaborator, Mansky (Michael Robb) and his young nephew, Albert Adam (Eric Keitel), a composer, are making themselves at home in the drawing room of a luxurious Italian villa on the Riviera (exquisitely appointed by scenic designer Jeff G. Rack), where they intend to prepare their latest production. The dialogue is peppered with inside references that pertain to the theater. One of these has Turai stating to the audience that, for the proceedings at hand, they will do away with the standard form of exposition and just address the spectators directly, telling them who the players are and what they are doing.
At one point the three men overhear an erotic conversation between leading lady Ilona Szabo (Kristin Towers Rowles), who is set to star in their upcoming production, and her former mentor/lover, matinee idol Almady (Todd Andrew Ball), a married man with several children. The devastated Albert, who is Ilona’s fiancé, threatens to end their engagement and destroy the score he has created for her. If that happens, Turai and Mansky won’t be able to mount their production and will face financial ruin.
To avoid that catastrophe, and to save the engagement, Turai hatches a plot. He will create a script incorporating the salacious dialogue between Ilona and Almady and state that, when they were overheard, the two were just rehearsing a play they are set to perform at an entertainment that evening. He has them do a dress rehearsal of the play, which Turai presents as being based on the work of a French playwright, mainly for the benefit of Albert.
The attempts at comedy in the early scenes of The Play’s the Thing, or its original incarnation, may have been effective for a more innocent audience of almost 100 years ago, but are just not witty or clever enough for a modern sensibility.
The humor of the more amusing and charming second act rests on the speeches Turai has created for Almady, which are full of self-deprecations that actually refer to the matinee idol himself. Even more delicious are the overly elongated names Almady has to pronounce in French, a task which exasperates him. When he complains, he points out that he has these enormous names to enunciate, while Ilona just has to react with a few words. Ball makes the most out of these very funny exchanges, providing some of the best laughs of the evening.
Director Melanie MacQueen has established the right pace for this material and has done her best to keep the piece flowing. She has also gotten very committed work from her cast members, who give their all to the proceedings.
From the very beginning, Leslie establishes the level required for the style of the piece, but one wishes the material he is given in the early part of the play elicited more amusement. Robb’s work is a good contrast to the supreme sense of assurance projected by Leslie’s character, although his performance seems a bit indefinite at times. Keitel is attractive, earnest and endearing, while Rowles is simply excellent as the tempestuous diva. Her exaggerated gestures and delivery during the dress rehearsal of the “play within a play” are delightful.
Jeffrey Winner adroitly creates a comical, off-center character as the butler, providing several chuckles, even in the rather flat first act. In the same vein, Milda Dacys is a hoot as the overly diligent prompter for the dress rehearsal. Michele Young has clothed the actors splendidly, particularly with respect to the evening dress Rowles wears in the second act. Derrick McDaniel’s lighting and the sound design by Nick Foran help establish the requisite atmosphere for the evening.
Theatre 40 in the Reuben Cordova Theatre, 241 S. Moreno Drive, Beverly Hills; Thu.- Sat. 8:00 p.m.; Sun. 2:00 p.m.; through June 12. Tickets: 310-364-0535 or www.theatre40.org. Running time: 1 hr., 50 mins. with one intermission.
