THEATER REVIEW : The Riotous Play--and Not the Size of Venue--Is the Thing : P.G. Wodehouse’s adaptation of a Hungarian farce pokes fun at theater itself, in a 24-seat house.
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One advantage of working in a relatively small space is that theatrical producers aren’t as compelled to promote guaranteed audience-pleasers to fill hundreds of empty seats and pay high rental fees.
Locally, Thousand Oaks-based Gothic Productions produces plays in the old Janss House living room, currently configured to a mere 24 seats, smaller even than the California Shakespeare Company’s storefront space. Gothic is, not coincidentally, among the most adventuresome of Ventura County theatrical groups.
Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnar’s “The Play’s the Thing” isn’t a title that’s guaranteed to draw crowds. Which is too bad, because the 1926 farce--adapted by British wit P.G. Wodehouse--is awfully funny and probably easier on contemporary American ears than plays by Oscar Wilde and Noel Coward, to name two authors who worked more or less the same territory.
Librettists Sandor and Mansky and their young composer protege, Albert, are gathered in an Italian castle when they accidentally overhear over-the-hill actor Almady making amorous advances to ingenue Illona, who is Albert’s fiancee. Illona is embarrassed, Albert is crushed, and Sandor takes it upon himself to patch things up. High jinks, understandably, ensue.
Molnar’s main target is theater itself, with the author taking shots at playwrights who write themselves into a corner and (more obviously) at vain and shallow thespians. “The Play’s the Thing” climaxes with a riotous performance by Almady and Illona trying to work their way through a script written by Sandor in the style of contemporary French theater and containing as many pitfalls for Almady as possible. Lunging into the role as Kevin Kline might, Sergio Bertolli turns in a very funny and highly physical performance, abetted by Rochelle Robinson as the pretty but ever-so-dim Illona.
Michael Jordan (who co-directed with Jim Diderrich) plays the amiable but egotistic and conniving Sandor, with George Gunkle as his collaborator and Roger Ontiveros as the naive composer, Albert. Bianca Jansen turns in the evening’s most confident performance as a fluttery secretary, and Nels Jorgensen plays a standard caricature butler. Mark Goles completes the cast as an inept assistant to Jansen’s character.
“The Play’s the Thing” is something a bit different and is recommended to those looking to expand their literary horizons while having a good deal of fun.
Details
* WHAT: “The Play’s the Thing.”
* WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday (closes May 7).
* WHERE: Arts Council Center, 482 Greenmeadow Drive, Thousand Oaks.
* HOW MUCH: $10 (students and seniors, $8).
* CALL: For reservations or information, 499-4355.
