Date: Fri 14-Nov-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

theatre-Bedroom-Farce-Stern

Full Text:

(rev "Bedroom Farce" @Town Players/Little Theatre)

Non-Farce, But Moving Force, Is Marriage, At Town Players

By Julie Stern

The title says it's a farce , but happily the play currently being presented

by Newtown Players, Alan Ackbourn's Bedroom Farce , transcends that category.

A prolific British dramatist, Ackbourn is able to write plays that are light

and very funny, but which are grounded in the idiosyncrasies of human nature

rather than on unfortunate coincidence.

While the scenes of Bedroom Farce take place entirely within the confines of

three separate bedrooms, with doors continually opening to admit unwanted

guests, the action revolves around the characters' attempts to understand each

other and express themselves.

The plot centers on the troubled relationship of Trevor and Susannah, and the

question of whether their marriage can be saved. The three bedrooms belong

respectively to Kate and Malcolm, who are using their bed to store coats for

their housewarming party; Jan (Trevor's old girlfriend) and her husband Nick,

who has injured his back and so cannot accompany his wife to the party, where

he fears she may rekindle the flame of her passion for Trevor; and Delia and

Ernest, Trevor's mournfully serious parents, who never really liked Susannah

and wish Trevor had married Jan when he had the chance.

Under Suzanne Kinnear's deft direction, the actors allow their individuality

to emerge clearly, while the three beds, as central props, become vehicles for

some great sight gags and physical comedy.

David F. Savo as Trevor, the brooding narcissist, and Maureen McFarlane as

Susannah, the daughter-in-law from Hell, are monumentally inconsiderate

people. Absorbed in their own grievances, they persist in imposing on everyone

else, in their quest for validation and sympathy.

The two ruin Kate and Malcolm's party with their quarreling, and then go their

separate ways: Susannah to her in-laws', to demand reassurance; and Trevor to

Jan and Nick's, to seek absolution and friendship from the new husband. It

never occurs to them that Delia and Ernest might not welcome company at two in

the morning, or that the bedridden Nick would mind being jostled by a large

man flopping down and bouncing on the mattress next to him as an expression of

enthusiasm.

As Nick, Steve Affinito is hilariously funny, being primarily a head on a

pillow which manages to express new extremes of outrage, indignation and

dismay, while the insensitive Trevor claps him on the shoulder saying "I have

a great idea! Let's go for a walk and really get to know one another!"

Mary Poile, as the lugubrious Delia, reluctantly invites her daughter-in-law

to stay the night, relegating her mousy husband (Ron Malyszka) to the bathroom

with his copy of Tom Brown's Schooldays while she offers marital advice ("My

mother always said if S-E-X rears its ugly head, close your eyes and don't

look at the rest").

As the good-natured happy couple Kate and Malcolm, Kristi McKeever and Kevin

Heath portray a marriage that works because they enjoy and trust one another,

and have a sense of fun. McKeever is also very funny, rolling her eyes and

using facial mugging to express her alarm at the unwanted confidences

vouchsafed by her self-centered guests.

The cast is rounded out by Debra Creedon as Jan, in a part that is well played

but has less in the way of comic lines. She has made her bed -- the one her

husband is lying in -- and she isn't sorry. Trevor is sexy in a Byronic way,

but just too much trouble.

The set design makes the most of the claustrophobic stage, and the props are a

hoot. All in all, Bedroom Farce is a great way for the Town Players to end

their season.

( Bedroom Farce continues until November 29 at the Little Theatre, Orchard

Hill Road in Newtown. Curtain is 8:30 pm on Friday and Saturday. Tickets are

$10 for adults, $9 for seniors. Call 270-9144 for additional information.)