Theater Review—

Missed ‘Scramble’? No Big Loss Over This Wiltse Work

By Julie Stern

WESTPORT — David Wiltse is a fine suspense novelist, and his serious plays — like Sedition, presented last year at Westport Country Playhouse, about the trial of a Nebraska professor accused of being unpatriotic because he criticized America’s involvement in World War I — have brought credit to both him and to the Playhouse. In their desire to fill the theater by offering something light and summery, however, playwright and theater company have come up with Scramble!, something this reviewer, at least, found less than fulfilling. A 2½ -week run of Scramble! concluded on July 26.

Wiltse’s farce about sexual politics in the offices of a second rate golf magazine might have been more appropriately titled Golf Shticks. Along with the requisite five doors (including two that lead to a closet so crammed with equipment that people who venture inside emerge with golf clubs caught in their clothing), each of the staffers of the unnamed periodical has his own recurring personal quirk: Secretary Jane becomes so flustered at the presence of men that she lapses into unintelligible gibberish; Otis, the aging Brit, clad in startlingly colorful plus fours, is a bundle of senior moments, never able to remember the exact word he is groping for to express the platitude he wants to deliver; Johnson, the newcomer, must break into song and dance in order to cope with his nervous stutter; Temple, the junior writer, whose ambition is not hampered by her lack of talent, is preceded by her amply displayed bosom; Sam, the female editor from Hell, mixes lascivious comments with scathing insults; and Carter, the hunky and self-serving golf columnist (who never plays the game) divides his time between procrastinating writing, and chasing Temple.

That’s what they do, over and over, punctuated by loud crashing noises every time someone — or some two… — enter the equipment closet.

It’s like a television sitcom, where each character’s predictable trait is sure to surface in the pursuit of laughs. The plot, such as it is, revolves around the attempts of the hapless underlings to avoid the wrath of the sexually predatory Sam, and then the rumor that, as the magazine has recently been bought up by a syndicate, one of the group must be a secret management spy, assigned to watch their performance and make recommendations on which of them should be fired for incompetence.

At times it is funny. The actors, professionals all, with Law and Order credits in their resumes, worked very hard and included Jennifer Mudge as Temple, Colin McPhillamy as Otis, Rebecca Harris as Jane, Candy Buckley as Sam and Tom Beckett as Johnson. If you like late night reruns of Cheers, or Taxi, or WKRP in Cincinnati, this might be the show for you.

On the other hand, while Matthew Rauch, who plays Carter, may look a bit like Kevin Costner, Scramble is no Tin Cup.