Sometimes we enjoy a book, play or movie simply because it
epitomizes a genre. It may not be a great work of art but if we’re in the mood
for a Rom-com, bromance or a detective story and the work follows the rules and
delivers the goods, then we may not be ecstatic but we are satisfied. Such is
the case with “A Flea in Her Ear,” which recently opened at Westport Country
Playhouse. If you’re in the mood for farce, then this offering will satisfy.
Based on Georges Feydeau’s 1907 highly successful play, adapted by David Ives
and directed with brio by Mark Lamos, “Flea” has the requisite slamming doors
and mistaken identities that are the bread and butter of farce, whose appeal is
primarily visual and sensual, with a heavy emphasis on physical activity.
It may take you a while to settle in for this three-act play
as you figure out who the characters are and their relationships. In essence,
we have Raymonde (Elizabeth Heflin), wife of Victor (Lee E. Ernst), who
believes, because of her husband’s recent lack of ardor, that he is being
unfaithful. Her friend, Lucienne (Antoinette Robinson) suggests a ploy: they
will write a letter to Victor from an admiring, anonymous lady, inviting him to
a tryst at the Frisky Puss, a hotel that caters to assignations. There, Raymonde
will confront him.
Receiving the letter, Victor, although initially proud that
he has drawn the amorous attentions of a lady, finally decides that the letter
is meant for his friend, Romain Tournel (Stephen Pelinski) and suggests that
Tournel go to the hotel. Others also, for various reasons, head for the hotel:
Camille (Mic Matarrese) for a rendezvous with Victor’s household cook,
Antoinette (Carine Montbertrand), and Carlos (Michael Gotch), Lucienne’s
husband, who suspects his wife of infidelity and is eager to take revenge. Off
they all go, and so ends the first act.
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| Antoinette Robinson and Michael Gotch. Photo by Carol Rosegg |
The second act again requires a bit of settling in. It is
set at the hotel, where new characters are introduced. As those intent on
trysting also arrive, chaos ensues, with a lot of slamming doors, partial
disrobing and a revolving bed. Characters appear and disappear as they attempt
to hide from each other. The third act finds everyone back at Victor’s house,
where all is finally resolved.
The cast of “A Flea” is, across the board, excellent, but
there are a few standouts First is Matarrese as Camille, for his character has
a defective palate that prohibits him from pronouncing consonants. Thus, most
of his dialogue must be delivered sounding like quasi-gibberish. It’s a tour de
force that immediately delights the audience; when he’s on stage he effectively
steals the show and engenders the greatest laughter. Then there’s Ernst as
Victor, who is also charged with playing Poche, a bell boy at the hotel who
bears a striking resemblance to Victor. This requires not only some rapid
costume changes but also portraying a pompous Parisian gentleman as well as a
somewhat inebriated servant. He pulls this off with such success that at the
curtain call you half expect to see Ernst and his doppelganger taking bows.
Finally, there’s Gotch as Carlos, the excitable, gun-toting
Spaniard. As directed by Lamos, Gotch gives us an acting style that went out of
date almost a century ago…but works…for his every statement and move is
over-the-top, as is his difficulty with the English language. He is
delightfully outrageous as a preening Spanish grandee consumed by jealousy. One
can only imagine Gotch’s eagerness in being given free rein to emote, and admire
his skill, for one of the most difficult things to pull off on the stage is
portraying a bad actor…without giving a bad performance.
Given that the play is in three acts, with two
intermissions, the farce can seem a bit overwhelming at times, especially in
the second act, when the audience is seldom given a moment to catch its
collective breath. Event tumbles onto event in kaleidoscopic fashion, so much
so that you often do not have the leisure to comprehend what has just happened
before a new twist is thrown in. Here you just have to go with the chaotic flow
and enjoy the extended display of the essence of farce.
Is “A Flea” brilliant theater? No, but it is what it is, and
if you accept the conventions of farce then there are moments in which you can
revel. Yes, the plot is highly contrived, the characters somewhat
larger-than-life and the acting primarily geared to broad strokes rather than
pointillist subtleties, but we go to the theater for many different reasons,
and one of them is to just sit back and be entertained, and there are many
entertaining moments in this broad comedy set in the Paris of the La Belle
Epoque.
“A Flea in Her Ear” runs
through July 28. For tickets or more information call 203-227-4177 or go to
www.westportplayhouse.org.
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