Contrary to a popular assertion about the putting on of farces, in particular, the timing isn't quite everything. The proper casting has just as much to do with it. Highly physical slapstick goes with the territory, but if you don't buy into the characters, even under the exaggerated circumstances of the genre, the results can be tiresome and overbearing.
Two of the better cases in point of late came courtesy of Lawrenceville’s Aurora Theatre: “Boeing Boeing” (2010) and “The Fox on the Fairway” (2012), both of which showcased a number of Atlanta’s most qualified actors (Joe Knezevich, Andrew Benator, Nita Hardy, Courtney Patterson, Dan Triandiflou, Robin Bloodworth, Jacob York).
Aurora’s current “Don’t Dress for Dinner” is another, considerably lesser case in point. It’s adequately blocked and paced by director George Contini, but his cast generally lacks the chops to sufficiently navigate Marc Camoletti’s convoluted comedy (adapted from the French by Robin Hawdon).
Oh, they’re not bad, really. They execute the play’s requisite action with an obvious energy that serves the “ridiculous nonsense” of it all, as one character puts it. In large part, however, Contini’s ensemble is more adept at relying on a heavy hand than providing a lighter touch to hint at or read into many of the “delicate situations” that propel the plot.
The ever-bombastic Bryan Brendle is typecast as Bernard, another of the actor’s patented blowhards. Maria Rodriguez-Sager, meanwhile, most often employed as spunky wide-eyed innocents, is somewhat out of her element playing his chic and sophisticated wife, Jacqueline. As his best friend and her illicit lover, Robert, Daniel Hilton doesn’t cut a very dashing figure as a presumably “dishy hunk.”
The farce unfolds (circa 1930) at a country estate outside Paris — lavishly designed by Lizz Dorsey (with period costumes by Amanda Edgerton) — although you’d scarcely know it to hear the vague British accents of the show’s three leads. Not to mention the American dialect of Kelly Criss, who portrays Bernard’s mistress, Suzanne, in the utterly routine squeaky-voiced, dumb-blonde fashion of Lina Lamont or Miss Adelaide.
But, wonder of wonders, a veritable star is born in the delectable performance of newcomer Shelli Delgado as Suzette, the cunning young cook they hire for a swanky soiree. A member of Aurora’s apprentice acting company, she puts her more experienced cast mates to shame with a refreshing charm and ease, essentially making off with the show in much the same way that Suzette cashes in on the others by agreeing to play different parts in their sundry subterfuges.
Against mainly laborious odds, Delgado registers as a promising talent who single-handedly seizes and rules the day — right down to a legitimate French accent that's tres bien.
THEATER REVIEW
“Don’t Dress for Dinner”
Grade: C+
Through May 25. 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays (excluding May 21); 2:30 p.m. Saturdays-Sundays; 10 a.m. Wednesday (May 21 only). $16-$30. Aurora Theatre, 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. 678-226-6222, www.auroratheatre.com.
Bottom line: More of a half-baked appetizer than a full-course meal.
