Cast of Donogoo                                                               Photos by Richard Termine

                                                    by Joel Benjamin

Jules Romains’ French comedy, Donogoo could easily have been written a year ago.  The only things missing are electronic devices; even the media as it existed in turn of the century Paris, is just as smarmy as its modern day equivalent.  Donogoo tells the complicated tale of a financial fraud perpetrated on thousands by a down and out suicide who inadvertently stumbles onto his racket with the help of an eccentric mystic and a greedy public. 

When the curtain rises Lamendin (James Riordan) is about to commit suicide by throwing himself into an industrial canal in Paris when he is saved by an old friend, Benin.  Benin (Mitch Greenberg) takes Lamendin to see the psychic Miguel Rufisque (George Morfogen) who tells Lamendin that he will meet someone who will change his life.  Indeed, he does meet a doddering, down on his luck geographer, Le Trouhadec (Mr. Morfogen, again) who tells him about Donogoo, an Eldorado-like place in the heart of the Brazilian jungle.  Lamendin, Benin and Le Trouhadec concoct a plan to sell shares in the Donogoo project.   Soon the swindle explodes into a worldwide phenomenon.  Hearty, grasping men invade Brazil, trodding cavalierly over the locals and each other.

The play, which is written in “23 Tableaux” takes the audience from Paris, to Marseille, to Saigon, to San Francisco and, of course, the jungles of Brazil.  We meet dozens of colorful characters which means lots of doubling up by the energetic and game cast who, with the help of Sam Fleming’s costumes and Gerard Kelly’s wigs manage to fill the stage with vibrant, if somewhat cartoony people.

The original production must have extravagant.  The Mint Theater Company brilliantly recreates all the locations by the use of clever video projections and set pieces that efficiently slide in and out.  This production, directed  and translated by Gus Kaikkonen, never bogs down despite its long running time. 

Donogoo is both fun and unsettling.  The Mint Theater Company’s imaginative staging—good acting, great scenery and costumes—makes a good case for Jules Romains’ play and its message.

Donogoo (through July 27, 2014)
Mint Theater Company
311 West 43^rd St. between 8^th & 9^th Aves.
New York, NY

Tickets and Information:  866-811-4111 or www.minttheater.org

Running time: 2 hrs. 30 min. with one intermission