‘Well then who’s on first??
‘Yes.?
Abbott and Costello’s classic routine is the big bang of comedy. Laughs and guffaws from today are still traced back to that classic comedic moment.
The delightful confusion, the rising exasperation and the back and forth between Abbott and Costello is verbal slapstick. The humor knows no borders, the hilarity is universal.
The influence of ‘Who’s on First? is seen everywhere from failed sitcom pilots to the most successful stand-up comedians? acts. For better or for worse, the routine is the center of all things comedy.
‘Don’t Dress for Dinner,? the Clarkston Village Player’s first production of the season, pays homage to Abbott and Costello’s classic routine. The play is directed by Steve M. Cunningham and produced by Amy Seaman.
At the open, an English gentleman named Bernard (Jerry Payton) invites his mistress Suzanne (Lydia White) to his house for the weekend as his wife Jacqueline (played by Payton’s real life wife Linda) is off to her mother’s. To cover up his clandestine activities, Bernard has invited one of his oldest friends, Robert (Dale Dobson) to stay the weekend as well.
The thing is, Robert and Jacqueline are quite the item behind Bernard’s back. When Jacqueline discovers Robert is heading into town, the trip to her mother’s is history.
Now, with Jacqueline sticking around, Bernard has to convince Robert to pretend that he and his mistress (Bernard’s) are entangled romantically, which of course Robert is not inclined to do because Jacqueline will see him as being unfaithful to her. Bernard does manage to force the mistress ruse down Robert’s throat, but Robert meets the cook, Suzette (Dawn Slaski) first and convinces her to pretend to be his mistress. Suzanne, Bernard’s actual mistress and an upscale Londoner, swaddled in the finest clothes, is left to make dinner.
All this is laid out in the opening minutes of the play; the overall pacing of the show makes it ever more delightful.
Later on George, a brute of a man played by Mel Case, stops by to check on his Suzette, the cook, who happens to be his wife.
Many times, like in the opening, the audience is inundated with information as the characters hurriedly concoct new scenarios to keep themselves out of the soup.
Like a game of reverse dominoes, ‘Don’t Dress for Dinner’s? cast frantically sets up the pieces, then knocks them down in slow motion. The audience knows the characters? hastily drawn up plans are doomed, but to watch them slowly catch fire before blowing up in their faces is just so satisfying.
The play’s English setting made the characters? antics slightly foreign and in a way funnier. Fortunately, the most important detail of the British ambience ? the accents ? was paid due attention. The actors? English accents might not fool a bloke from east Liverpool, but all of the cast does well enough to avoid distraction. Basically, no one starts out with a high brow London inflection at the start of the production and ends with a working class cockney in the end.
And while on the subject of voice inflection, it was nice the entire cast did not seem to have been schooled by a Mary Poppins neophyte. Suzette the cook sounds like a well-worn working class cook; Suzanne the mistress keeps her nose towards the clouds and her accent proves it.
While all the characters have their moment to shine, Dobson’s portrayal stands out from the rest and elevates the play on the whole.
For starters, Dobson’s nonverbal acting is a delight. I have three theories about Dobson’s altenately crimson and pale face: one, he has microscopic robots who covertly coat his face in red paint as the situation dictates; two, the lighting staff at the Depot Theatre has perfected subtle lighting effects to ridiculous levels; or three, Dobson is steeped in his craft.
I don’t have any support for my first two hypothesis, but the third is evidenced by the depth of character Dobson breathes into the toddling and increasingly more and more inebriated Robert.
Like Dobson and his natural fit with his role, the Depot Theatre’s unavoidable intimacy is well suited for this play.
Holly Stephens? set design is well conceived, as the living room of Bernard and Jacqueline’s converted barn/country home only adds to the production.
‘Don’t Dress for Dinner’s? run at the Depot Theatre includes Sept. 15-17 and 22-24.
Show times are 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Tickets are $12 for Friday and Saturday performances and $10 for Thursday.
Tickets are available for purchase through www.clarkstonvillageplayers.org or by calling 248-625-2511. They are also available by leaving a message via the Clarkston Village Players ticket line at 248-625-8811. Tickets may be purchased at the door the night of the performance; however, availability can not be assured.
For more information, please visit the Web site or call 248-625-8811. The Clarkston Village Players and Depot Theatre are located at 4861 White Lake Road.