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Farcicals
By Eugene Paul Ah there, first off, we need once again to remind us that Alan Ayckbourn, noted Alan Ayckbourn is here with a passel of his plays. Not all seventy-eight, heaven forfend, no, just four, and of the four, two are one acts. Littler. Handier size. Comfortable, you might say. Farces. Not that farces are ever really comfortable, are they. Not meant to be, of course. Meant to be un, as a matter of fact. Quite un. You know, keep you off balance laughing what with the tom foolery, the Ayckbourn gift of the casual zinger, and then there’s the de rigueur pratt falls and bangings on the head and swinging doors, good, standard stuff. Not that you can squeeze all of it into one act, really, as the master knows full well, so what does he do? He gives us Farcicals, two one acts with the same characters in both, which, inevitably links both plays closely together. And more territory for the aforementioned farce essentials, with the wry twist of placing them in the same garden setting, the grounds of the Bottlecamps, Penny and Reggie, entertaining, you might say, their best friends Teddy and Lottie Bundlin, who’ve come over for a pleasant supper. That’s in Chloe with Love, the first play. Designer Jan Lee Brown cannot give them the full palette – them swinging doors – because playwright Ayckbourn, has plotted them outdoors, but she does wonders, she has given them an enchanting niche for sitting about laced with divine little traps and pitfalls, a trip here, a stumble there, in just the right place and time.
Lottie (Sarah Stanley) feels utterly compelled to reveal all to her best friend, Penny (Elizabeth Boag) as she has done from the time they have first known each other, dumping, indeed cascading her insecurities on Penny’s still fine, capable shoulders. She feels she’s gotten lumpy around the edges and that her husband, Teddy, he of the oft noted roving eye, is roving. Penny, all assurance, has the perfect remedy: a total makeover. Of Lottie. She takes tottering Lottie in tow to her makeover lair. We await the results with bated breath. The lads, Reggie (Kim Wall) well trained hubby after all these years, and Teddy (Bill Champion) apparently not as well trained, enter, wine in hand, for serious discussion as is their usual wont: sexcapades of yore, too much, not enough, the silliness of female fetishes such as handbags, all with probing analysis of the superb bottle of wine they’ve opened (screw top). Which turns out to be good, good, good to the last drop quick, quick, quick, reassuring them that it is best to go for more of where that came from. Enter Penny and – Lottie? Makeover, indeed. Unrecognizable sexpot, hair, makeup, boobs, hips, heels. For fun, she is Chloe, a dear friend of Penny’s just dropped in. And don’t you know where it all goes from there. In no time, Teddy has his pants off. Brits love this. Not that we don’t. Farce two, The Kidderminster Affair, even less substantial, the Ayckbourn mockery less subtle (and that’s as may be) dances with the shoe on the other foot. Reggie is enlisted by a frantic Teddy to help him hang on to Lottie. (She may not look like much but she’s different with the lights out.) She must NOT learn of his diddling in Kidderminster. Even to mention Kidderminster sends Teddy into paroxysms of terror. This time round, the men are the chefs, cooking outdoors. On a grill. Which gets hot, as we know. Which is all in Ayckbourn’s set up for a roasting of us, of course. Kim Wall as Reggie is the perfect fifty year old adorable little kid bumbler and bumble he does, with gusto. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Sarah Stanley as Lottie, she of the inner vamp, now puzzles over their strange behaviors, these men, and to watch the light bulb go on is right tasty. This time, Bill Champion as Teddy, keeps his pants on, revealing guilts and angst instead. Whether or not that is preferable is moot, but it’s funny. Elizabeth Boag, silky certain as Penny, stays smoother than ever. Taken as a whole, both plays add up to agreeable laughter, no flat out howls. Ayckbourn is right as rain to label them Farcicals, the implication of “not quite” bang on. There is, however, the question of translation: in Britain, it’s all funnier. Ya gotta know the territory. 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, near Park Avenue: Tickets: $50. 212-279-4200. Thru June 29. In rep. Check schedule: britsoffbroadway.com. 
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