The Play’s The Thing – by Ferenc Molnar adapted by P.G. Wodehouse

Kristin Towers Rowles, Todd Andrew Ball - Photos by Eric Keitel

 

by Joe Straw

 

Note May 20^th 2022: something glaring caught my attention, this of all nights, and not to be rude by any sort of the imagination, but, did I hear actors and not see them? Shocking!!! My only guess is that this set of circumstances, could only be the choice of the director given the Hungarian playwright has long since been declared dead. Naytheless, I simply must stay on topic, jot my note, and immediately have the usher send recommendations backstage to the director. (She was not there.) – Annoying Theatre Critic

 

Theatre 40 presents The Play’s The Thing by Ferenc Molnar, adapted by P.G. Wodehouse, directed by Melanie MacQueen and produced by David Hunt Stafford is playing through June 12, 2022.

 

Sometimes I wonder about the director’s choices and understanding time limitations, in intimate theatre, that everything may not work out according to plan.  (The lack of physical relationships was somewhat glaring and one is not sure if this was because of COVID precautions.) Still, I’ve seen it in other shows where one just sits back and say; this offstage significant moment did not work. The Ruffian On the Stair by Joe Orton had a similar circumstance.

 

Some things work themselves out by accident, or by improvisation, while other things, given the time limitations, never find a solution.  One must look at the moment and make a declaration one way or another. Not to pick on anyone in particular but there will be more on this particular moment later.

 

To encapsulate the play, an awareness that some people find annoying, but, in this case is necessary to prove a point.   

 

Summertime in a castle on the Italian Riviera in the 1920’s Sandor Turai (Daniel Leslie) an established playwright, Mansky (Michael Robb) his collaborator, and composer Albert Adam (Eric Keitel) Turai’s nephew arrive late unannounced at the castle to spend a couple of weeks.  

 

Ilona Szabo (Kristin Towers-Rowles) a prima donna had previously been invited to stay at the castle. She is unaware of the presence of others and she is also presumably in the next room “sleeping”.   

 

Ilona is also engaged to Albert Adam and ostensibly can’t wait to see her fiancé.   

 

But, behind closed doors, Almady (Todd Andrew Ball) Szabo’s former lover and an actor, but now married with children, are having a flirtatious tête a tête at 2am in the morning!

 

Turai, Mansky, and Adam come upon them, hearing them in the Ilona’s bedroom, and Adam is furious and leaves.  Not hearing the part of Ilona telling Almady to leave.

 

But the kind hearted Turai wants the best for his nephew and devises a plan to rescue their marriage. So, he writes a play as a solution to a very saucy predicament.

 

Needing something to perk his creative writing spirit Turai rings for the footman Johann Dwornitschek (Jeffrey Winner) to supply him with the necessary supplements to keep him going in the early morning light.

 

And it is in that morning Turai tells Ilona and Almady that they heard their 2am conversation.  Ilona is shocked and wants to save her marriage so they agree to be part of Turai’s plan to save their marriage.

 

The one critical issue of this production was Ilona and Almady’s conversation behind closed doors. This particular interaction left the audience with a bare stage for an actor’s eternity. The most important element missing here is the relationship, both physical and emotional, between the two. We miss their present physical relationship, playing from the past to the now present.  Because that is missing, the dominoes are separated unevenly and don’t fall during the progression of the play, and the relationship past, present, and future is not entirely realized.

 

Love is the overriding factor in this play because love expressed or over-expressed to the nth degree will enhance the dialogue and greatly benefit the play especially with characters that hold their moral imperfections in high regard.  

 

Still, there is a lot to enjoy about this production. One thing in particular is the amazing set design by Jeff G. Rack that gives the actors a place to play and play well.

 

Michèle Young, Costume Designer, sets the time and place for the actors and again does a remarkable job.

 

 

Daniel Leslie (l.), Eric Keitel, Michael Robb

 

Todd Andrew Ball as Almady has some very funny moments, trying his best, with the French names and dialogue.  There is more to add to the character, a philander, a pestiferous ex-lover, with an unquenchable longing, who may not be willing to give in so easily to everyone’s demands to modify his behavior. And, although caught, the lecherous Almady cannot be that easily swayed. He should never take his eye off the prize, married or not, found out or not, fiancé or not.  We’ll get a better idea of what this character is all about.

 

Milda Dacys as Miss Mell appears in the second act and brings a lot of fun to the role. Dacys added another level to the character that made the role interesting and unabatedly impressive.

 

Daniel Leslie used his powerful voice as Sandor Turai a vainglorious writer, with a supercilious manner, who wants to save his nephew but then again suffers no cost.  He is a man that accumulates knowledge from every conceivable source.  He offers solutions but he is not weigh down by any source of conflict confronting him during the course of the night. Time and ability inherent in the life of a writer are thrown wayside but may be a source of obstacles and conflict.  Love is an overriding force in this character, mostly for his nephew, but there is little given in the way of a physical or emotional relationship between the two.  

 

Michael Robb was Mansky; the collaborator but was not sure how he collaborated with Turai, how he made Turai’s life better, or the play better.  One believes the actor has to a make a stronger choice about whom he is, what he is about, and what he is doing on the stage to move the play along. It was hard to determine what his conflict was and his objective was not an overriding force that carried him from one moment to the next.  

 

Kristin Towers-Rowles plays the prima donna Ilona Szabo and has a very lovely voice and is very expressive on stage. One believes that the conflict of this character is the feelings she has with both characters. She is marrying one, but still relives the relationship she had with the other and one believes we need to see that onstage.  Her errors in judgment would also guide the character along.  Again, love moves us in strange ways, and adding those strange ways would only add to the character and the comedy. Still, there was some very good work here.     

 

Jeffrey Winner is first introduced as a footman who has just gotten out of bed.  He plays Dwornitschek, a man bent over from lack of sleep or an extremely bad mattress.  It is a physical life that makes this character outstanding and his work is excellent.  

 

Eric Keitel has a strong physical presence as Albert Adam a man so in love that he will do just about anything to keep her. But, listening to a few choice words, he loses all hope.  There are ranges of human emotions that create the conflict and move the play along. Number one, wanting to be with her every moment of the day including the hour of his arrival, to anger, to hopelessness, to enlightenment. All this is visible but not to a degree that makes the comedy work.

 

Next year I will have know Melanie MacQueen, the director, for (dare I say it) forty years. I admired her work and I am impressed that she has been a creative force in Los Angeles and has never given up on her dream.  There is a lot of good work in this production.  The things I’ve mentioned are only observations of the performances, something to think about, and then to move on to the next creative adventure.

 

Lighting Designer was Derrick McDaniel.

Sound Designer was Nick Foran.

Stage Manager was Don Solosan.

 

Reservations: 310-364-0535

 

Online Ticketing: www.theatre40.org

 

Parking is free!