November 5, 2011
Review: The Play's The Thing
BY PAT DONNELLY, GAZETTE, November 5, 2011
MONTREAL - An exceptionally wide curtain separates the audience from the stage at the Segal Centre for The Play’s the Thing, by Ferenc Molnár, as translated by P.G. Wodehouse in 1926.
But the line between reality and illusion is not so clearly delineated in this play, which in its original version was titled The Play at the Castle (1924).
Like his Italian contemporary Luigi Pirandello (Six Characters in Search of an Author, 1921), Hungary’s Molnár liked to experiment with what was possible and what was not in the theatre, rejecting unimaginative realism. He liked to include the audience in the process and embraced the play-within-the-play structure perfected by Shakespeare in Hamlet.
The Play’s the Thing begins with a pair of theatrical collaborators discussing their work and sharing their technique with the audience.
Playwright Sandor Turai (Paul Hopkins) decries the difficulties of exposition and suggests they can be efficiently overcome by having the characters simply introduce themselves in the first scene. Which they promptly do.
In addition to Turai, we are introduced to his co-writer, Mansky (James Kidnie), and the idealistic young composer of their upcoming operetta, Albert Adam (Chris Barillaro). We learn that the three of them have just arrived at a castle/hotel in Italy, where their female star and fiancée of Adam, Ilona Szabo (Jessica B. Hill), is staying. They hope to give her a pleasant surprise. Not a good idea.
Soon after arrival, they find themselves overhearing an intimate conversation between Szabo and her former, married lover, Almady (Michael Rudder). Adam is crushed to the point of being suicidal. Worse yet, to Turai and Mansky, the future of their operetta looks grim.
So Turai burns the midnight oil writing a play that will give the diva a cover story.
It’s this hilarious play-within-the-play, a brilliant satire of overblown French dramas in general and the plays of Sardou in particular, that makes the talky, self-important cleverness of this entire three-act exercise more than worthwhile, giving the actor playing Almady a wonderful opportunity to bring down the house.
Rudder is in top form here, by turns arrogant and abject, sputtering out French titles and place names while discussing the sentimental importance of a peach.
Director Blair Williams, a Shaw Festival veteran with a keen understanding of the period, has Hopkins (best known as the artistic director of Repercussion Theatre) doing silky smooth debonair. Kidnie, too, hits the right note playing the rougher, more cynical side of the duo. In contrast, Barillaro is all youthful wounded innocence and dashed hopes.
At first, Hill, as the not-so-innocent diva, plays it too jumpy and giddy, but she gradually settles into the role and handles the comedy of the third act beautifully.
True to the farcical norm, the butler (Chip Chuipka) gets to upstage them all with his knowing glances and guarded replies. As the hotel manager, Mell, Jonathan Patterson scores his share of laughs as he eagerly participates in the rehearsal of the speedily penned work.
Peter Hartwell’s sweeping, elegant castle set, notable for its rising moon over the waters and falling star, adds a poetic touch. Kirsten Watt’s lighting and Dmitri Marine’s discreet compositions enhance the setting for this intelligent, amusing play, written by the man whose Liliom formed the basis for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Carousel.
The Play’s the Thing, by Ferenc Molnár, continues until Nov. 20 at the Segal Centre, 5170 Côte Ste. Catherine Rd. Tickets: $34-$44, seniors $31-$39, students $22, under 30 $28-$34. Call 514-739-7944 or visit www.segalcentre.org
pdonnell@montrealgazette.com
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