Show Of ‘Farce’
lan Ayckbourn’s rollicking comedy “Bedroom Farce” sounds familiar. Didn’t I already see that one at the Interplayers Ensemble?
Wrong. I’m apparently thinking of six other rollicking comedies by Alan Ayckbourn.
When “Bedroom Farce” opens Friday, he will become the Interplayers’ most-produced playwright. This will be the seventh Ayckbourn play staged by Spokane’s resident professional theater company in less than a decade, which means he beats out such also-rans as Shakespeare, Shaw and Wilde.
Other Ayckbourn plays produced by Interplayers include “How the Other Half Loves” and “Season’s Greetings” (both in 1992); “Taking Steps” and “Absurd Person Singular” (both in 1994); “Intimate Exchanges” (1996) and “Absent Friends” (1998).
By Ayckbourn standards, seven is not all that many. He writes plays for his own theater in Scarborough, England, and has already written more than 50.
Ayckbourn is often described as the Neil Simon of Britain, because his primary vehicle is comedy, usually farce. Yet those who have seen his comedies know that his wit has a sharp, savage and often cynical edge. He is a master at cutting the British middle class down to size.
In “Bedroom Farce” he is once again taking on the great suburban middle class (although in this production, the action has been transferred to Connecticut).
This is about Susannah (Lorelei Sturm) and Trevor (Eric Mayer), whose new marriage is already on the rocks. Their troubles soon affect their closest friends, three other married couples.
Ayckbourn often bases his farces on ingenious visual devices. “How the Other Half Loves” took place simultaneously in two separate kitchens. “Taking Steps” featured three floors of an old mansion, laid out side by side.
In “Bedroom Farce,” the action is played out in the three bedrooms of their friends, which are laid out side by side on the stage. If Ayckbourn is true to form, you will be amazed by how effectively he exploits such a simple device for maximum laughs.
According to the critics, Ayckbourn was in top form when he wrote this 1977 play, one of his biggest hits.
The Times of London called it “as funny as anything he has written,” and the “Oxford Companion to the Theatre” calls it “one of Ayckbourn’s best plays.”
We’ve been Ayckbourn-free for a year-and-a-half, which may explain why Interplayers chose this as their “surprise” play to close the season. We might have had to go through Ayckbourn withdrawal otherwise.
Jonn Jorgensen, an Interplayers veteran from New York, will direct this production. The cast also includes Michael Weaver, Jane Fellows, Michael Denini, Susan Mansfield, Tim Kniffen and Brenna Holcomb.
This sidebar appeared with the story: ON STAGE `Bedroom Farce’
The show opens Friday and continues through June 3 at Interplayers, 174 S. Howard. Curtain times are 8 p.m on Fridays and Saturdays, and 7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Matinees wil be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Wednesday and May 20.
Tickets are $17.45 and $15.10 for evening performances, $13.90 for matinees. Friday’s opening-night performance is discounted, at $13.90. Tickets for patrons under 25 are $10 for any performance. Call 455-PLAY for tickets, or visit www.interplayers.com.
The Lunch Hour Hot Tix program offers tickets for $10 every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between the hours of noon and 1 p.m. at the theater box office for that night’s performance only, maximum of two tickets.