CDS offers summer farce
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from August 1999.
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The bad thing about farce, according to its detractors, is that it is mindless entertainment.
The good thing about farce, according to ardent fans, is that it is mindless entertainment.
"I love a good farce on an evening when I don't want to do any thinking," said one theatre-goer who took in several plays - including a farce - during a recent London holiday.
Paradoxically, the precise treatment that demands so little of an audience requires a great deal from performers. Timing is everything-if the pace ever lags, if the lines ever falter, the viewers' willing suspension of disbelief is quickly lost.
Rehearsals earlier this week indicated that producer/director Colin Wilson has assembled a uniformly strong cast. The principles have the energy and agility to execute sight gags; everyone has the ability to articulate and project the verbal humour. The only problem may be having to adapt to audience laughter so that the action keeps going, but lines are not drowned out.
The plot of Key for Two is hardly complicated. Its title derives from a situation in which two men each have a key to a separate section of storage space in the bedroom of their mistress. Since there are two men, both of whom are married, and only one mistress, the viewer might well think the play could be sub-titled "The Deceivers Deceived".
Adultery and drunkenness are not funny subjects. In a farce, however, they become merely devices which will propel characters into unexpected situations. In Key for Two, for example, one of the main challenges for playwrights John Chapman and Dave Freeman seems to have been how many different combinations of people they could get in or on a bed together.
The farce is not a morality play. One might wish to see the dishonest mistress or the unfaithful husbands get their comeuppance; one might enjoy seeing them made uncomfortable by problems they brought on themselves. But one suspects they will keep on just as they have been doing all along.
The single lesson that seems to have been learned is by the mistress' friend. Told that being a kept woman has its hazards, she replies that she'll stick to marriage.
This is only the second time that the Drama Society has attempted a production in August. Food Plus Two, the combination of dinner and a pair of one-act plays, was a big success last year. Can a full-length farce be as big a draw? "We're going to find out," Colin replied.
"This is the first proper comedy I've ever directed," he pointed out. "None of the outrageous cross-dressing, no dames.... I'm not in it." He has, in fact, a reputation for his stage performances. But now he is ready to try new things and knowledgeable audiences may be pleasantly surprised by his deft touch. In Key for Two all of the actors but one have extensive experience here or abroad. Peter Riley and Kate Bowring are CDS dependables. This time Peter takes the stock character of the fool [in modern times, the drunk] and gives him a whole new dimension. Kate is on stage less than anyone, but quickly establishes her persona in no uncertain terms.
Damien Van T. Kruis is almost too boyishly goodlooking for his role as one of the philanderers. It's as if he has taken a mistress because that's what big boys do. But his facial expressions make him a delight to watch.
Martin Tedd is the other husband. Although subtlety is not often associated with farce, he uses it as an actor to establish a character very much the opposite of Damien's.
Ann O'Connell as the lady of the household and Vanessa Hansen as her visiting friend play off each other, creating a dynamic that brings out the best in their performances and the worst in their characters.
Sophie Tarnowska joins Kate as a wronged wife mixing suspicion and gullibility in credible CONT'D ON FACING PAGE FROM FACING PAGE
Kate as a wronged wife, mixing suspicion and gullibility in credible proportions.
Colin has modified the recommended set design - improving it - and a team headed by Peter Phillips has brought it to realisation.
Carpenters, painters and property managers include Paul DeFrietas, Stewart Morrison, Martin Tedd, Colin Wilson, Vanessa Hansen, Ruth Bodden, Judy Shepherd. Other essential ingredients are provided by Valerie Cottier (light/sound) and Lizanne Burbidge (assistant to the director).
Key for Two, which was scheduled to open last night, runs Thursdays through Saturdays until 28 August. Dinner theatre is on Saturdays only, with tickets at $30. Other performances are $12.50 adults, $8 children. For reservations and information call Omeria at the box office, 949-5054.
