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Feb. 8, 2013
French farce takes off
Boeing-Boeing is at the Stanley until Feb. 24.
TOVA G. KORNFELD
Boeing-Boeing, brilliant brilliant! On stage now at the Arts Club Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage until Feb. 24, playwright Marc Camoletti has the distinction of penning this most-performed French play in the world, beating out the work of French icons Molière and Georges Feydeau.
Camoletti’s light-hearted romp ran for 19 years in Paris followed by six years in London’s West End. Although its 1965 Broadway debut was short-lived, a recent revival has garnered critical acclaim and two Tony Awards. North American audiences might best remember the 1965 Hollywood film version starring Jerry Lewis and Tony Curtis.
Set in a Paris bachelor pad in the swinging sixties, the plot revolves around an American playboy who is juggling three girlfriends at the same time, all flight attendants and all working for different airlines. Bernard is a charming cad who manages to keep his lovers apart by tracking flight schedules in his little black book, making sure that one woman is always taking off when another arrives. As long as all the flights are on time and no unforeseen circumstances arise, all is well.
Imagine then the chaos that ensues when all three women show up at the apartment at the same time. Add into the mix Bernard’s long-suffering maid, who is tasked with keeping the right photos and cuisine in the apartment for the right girlfriend at the right time, and an old college friend, naïve Robert from Wisconsin, who arrives in Paris with no place to stay, and the fun really begins. Robert becomes an unwitting participant in managing this French harem, having to adeptly come up with explanations for who is where when as the three women show up at various times and in various stages of undress, popping in and out of the seven doors that open onto the stylish set. This script has a 1960s sensibility, which is naughty but nice with its sexual hi-jinks tame by today’s standards.
Farce has evolved from the very broad, physical style of the Italian commedia dell’arte into the contemporary style based on witty repartee. Its essence is timing, as becomes apparent in this production with its obligatory frenzy of door slamming, sudden entrances and harried exits. Zany one liners, biting wit and larger-than-life characters complete the picture.
In this Arts Club production, Jonathon Young plays Bernard to perfection, with baby-faced insouciance. Andrew McNee is a loveable Robert although, before you know it, his innocence has disappeared making for an intriguing subplot. Both men embrace the physicality of their respective roles, replete with body slams and pillow fights, effortlessly playing off each other.
The minimalist black-and-white set by Jewish community member Amir Ofek, with the seven doors strategically placed on stage, provides the backdrop for the exploding palette of the color-coded flight attendants: the gold-digging American Gloria (Kimberley Sustad) from TWA who is pretty in pink, the seductive Gabriella (Moya O’Connell) of Alitalia in cool blue, and the in-your-face blond German Gretchen (Colleen Wheeler) from Lufthansa in green. Their costumes are very Coco Chanel, with pencil skirts, white gloves and pillbox hats. Kudos to costume designer Nancy Bryant for this nostalgic look.
Each of these three women is superb, with Wheeler as the Teutonic fräulein a real crowd pleaser. Her Arnold Schwarzenegger “girly boy” accent had audience members rolling in the aisles. However, it is veteran actor Nicola Lipman who absolutely steals the show as Berthe the maid, who says of her frenetic position, “Mon Dieu! This is no life for a maid.” The petite Lipman, dressed in the stereotypical French maid’s outfit, with oversized black-frame glasses, plays her droll wise-cracking role with aplomb and keeps her “Monsieur” Bernard under control. She should get nominated for a Jessie Award for her performance. Every time she appears on stage, the audience titters in anticipation of some gem about to drop out of her rouge-painted lips. At one point, when Robert manages to delay the inevitable collision of the three unsuspecting women, she quips, “Well done, sir. I’d go a long way to see something like that again.” Of course, no farce is complete without a happy ending and this one does not disappoint.
In a program interview, director David Mackay explained what he thinks is behind this play’s 50 years of popularity: “The simple answer is that the structure of this farce puts the characters in comic situations that remain ludicrously funny today,” he said. As to the depth of the characters, he added, “Part of the audience-character relationship in a farce is that there should be a general feeling of panic and hysteria building towards a grand and accelerated climax. No one is particularly real or believable, but it is ultimately very funny.” McKay’s direction certainly provides this fast pace and the two-and-a-half hours fly by. For showtimes and tickets, visit artsclub.com or call 604-687-1644.
Tova G. Kornfeld is a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.
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