 |
| Cast of One Slight Hitch (Christine Mosere) |
One Slight Hitch
Phoenix Theatre
Through November 1, 2015
Comedian Lewis Black wrote One Slight Hitch and it was produced at ACT Theatre in 2012.
Deliberately set in 1981 – “morning in (Reagan’s) America,” it is a throwback
to old-style slamming door farce. ACT’s production was sluggish and not very
funny. It had the stalwart R. Hamilton
Wright as the dad and Marianne Owen
as the mom and they did their utmost to bring the comedy.
Phoenix Theatre does comedies. So it fits their modality and
they are pretty great at old-style slamming door farce! Their mounting of the
play is faster, funnier and sillier than the lugubrious ACT production. I even
laughed at more of the jokes!
It’s Courtney’s wedding day. Courtney (Elizabeth Adkisson) never thought she would get married, but then
she met Harper (J. Woody Lotts) and
felt happy, so she changed her mind. Parents Doc (Keith Dahlgren) and Delia (Melanie
Calderwood) are throwing the wedding at their home.
Delia is overjoyed that she can make a beautiful wedding,
after a war-time disaster she had for her own. Everyone is bustling about
getting ready. Until. A “hitch” knocks on the door. It’s Courtney’s old
boyfriend, Ryan (Jordan Fermstad),
hitchhiking around for a visit. He has to use the bathroom (of course) and Doc
enlists youngest daughter, P.B. (Rebekah
Dawn) to keep Ryan away from Delia.
Oldest daughter Melanie (Simone Barron) arrives home from work as a nurse, adding a more
acerbic and drunker commentary to the proceedings. A lot of booze is consumed.
Much of the storyline is completely predictable. The fun is in
watching the delivery of the lines, particularly the interplay between Dad and
Mom. Dahlgren and Calderwood are very funny and sweet together. Calderwood is
in all their comedies, it seems, but it’s because she has such an amazing knack
for it! Her timing is just about perfect in any role. She even manages to make
a more serious regret-speech (probably Black’s real aim for the play) at the
end sound reasonable and heartfelt.
This is a good introduction to Phoenix’s comedy line-up.
Other comedies this season will be Expressing
Willie by Rachel Crothers and in 2016 a wonderful Steven Dietz comedy, Becky’s New Car. This is the comedy company
that “can.”
(Note: It doesn’t hurt that there is a parking lot full of
free parking available! For those tired of trying to find parking in more dense
areas of our region.)
No comments:
Post a Comment
This is a moderated comment section. Any comment can be deleted if the moderator feels that basic civility standards are not being met. Disagreements, however, if respectfully stated, are certainly welcome. Just keep the discussion intelligent and relatively kind.