I’m gonna make this short and sweet.
Theatre is filled with plays and musicals that ask important questions, give voice to underrepresented experiences, and challenge us to think outside ourselves… but sometimes we just need to laugh so hard we pee a little. That’s what the college division of New World School of the Arts gives us with their season opener – a farce that keeps you on the edge of your seat as this large ensemble cast descends into self-induced madness.
With direction from veteran director/actor/professor James S. Randolph, we are transported to the world written by Georges Feydeau, a world of confusion, mistaken identity, happy accidents. This tells the story of Raymonde Chandebise (Emily Ann Garcia), who believes her husband, Victor Emmanuel Chandebise (Pablo De Pablo) to be unfaithful, and how she goes about to trap him in said betrayal by tricking him into thinking that a woman has sent him a letter to meet at The Hotel Coq d’Or in Montretout.
What follows is a whirlwind of a play as the ensemble slowly falls apart one accidental discovery after another.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT – MORGAN SOPHIA PHOTOGRAPHY
I went in worried that the play would drag on and not hold up but, this group of actors proved me wrong. They are a well-oiled machine, each one confident in their role and willing to give themselves entirely to the form, no matter how ridiculous it may look or feel… I mean, it is a farce after all.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT – MORGAN SOPHIA PHOTOGRAPHY
The cast might be too large for me to go through in this little review but I will say, that not one character is wasted. From the hyper-sexual and aggressive hotel clerk to the incoherent speech impeded nephew. If you have the pleasure of watching this show(which you should) keep an eye on them all, and the choices they make with each step they take across the stage, up and down the stairs, through every single door. With of course, as is sometimes the case, the exception of few actors that could have pushed further or made bold choices, but they are overshadowed by the grasp the rest of the cast has on the material.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT – MORGAN SOPHIA PHOTOGRAPHY
As it goes, this farce slowly but surely is taken over by chaos, chaos that without the right guidance might be something you want to step away from – but thanks to the masterful choreography from Randolph it is something beautiful to behold. Each movement is purposeful, each breakdown so unique and hilarious that I was afraid to blink in case I missed anything.
What makes all of this even funnier are the costumes, by Angielina Esposito, that they must navigate around within all the madness, costumes that create an air of the 1%, a perfect contrast to the very human behavior of the cast.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT – MORGAN SOPHIA PHOTOGRAPHY
