REVIEW: ‘See How They Run’ is perfect example of British farce
“See How They Run” is one of the most-often produced comedies by local theater troupes and for good reason. It has all the elements of a top-drawer farce: a setting in England (a grand old house and, yes, WWII is always good), lots of screaming and chasing, doors opening just a split-second after a different door closes, a confused maid and, of course, missing trousers at some points.
And, sure enough, with so many elements designed to work around an exploited situation — the famous “mistaken identity” ploy, a staple in a good farce — without much development of character, the Old Lyric Repertory Company’s presentation of “See How They Run” fits the bill nicely.
Farces and the Old Lyric have a solid history together, you see, including this one, that has had a couple of runs in the Caine Theatre in the recent past.
The set-up for “See How They Run” is in a vicarage in the Midlands. Vicar Lionel Toop (yes, in a good farce, even the names are funny) has been married just over a year to an American, a former actress, no less, Penelope. Busy-body parishioner Miss Skillon is forever trying to cause issues with Penelope, who has chanced across an old friend and fellow actor Clive Winton, just on leave from the nearby U.S. airbase.
Clive (played by Tyson Baker, who was also perfectly cast in this season’s “39 Steps” and is easy to enjoy here) and Penelope soon cook up a plan to go out together, Clive being dressed up as and impersonating the Rev. Toop.
And so the misadventures — and chasing, lots of chasing — begin.
Director Leigh Selting pushes his cast to hit most of the bang-bang action right on cue, though some pauses on sexual innuendo seemed a bit lengthy. British accents throughout were broad and consistent, though some of the screaming and intensity of delivery caused a few of the lines to be missed.
Keri Larsen was quite likable as Miss Skillon and her scenes of inebriation are well-staged. Felicia Stehmeier was an important cog as Ida, the maid, though it felt like she could have been a bit peppier in her movements on stage. Her voice carried well throughout the theater.
Baker and Amanda Mahoney (as Penelope) work well together and truly seem like old friends and they also seem to become their characters. Jeff Allen Pierce is cast as the Rev. Toop and has a slightly harder time being felt by the audience. His acting was spot-on, mind you, and his staging — with trousers on and off — was precise. But the character somehow felt like an excellent actor showing the audience how best to play the Rev. Toop, but yet not passing that line and becoming the character. Yes, that’s a fine line and a minor criticism, if at all.
Characters continuing to cause confusion in the second act include the Bishop of Lax (W. Lee Daily), the Rev. Humphrey (Andy Johnson) and The Intruder (Stefan Espinosa), who all have their moments dressed in the dark cloak of the clergy. Johnson warmed the audience with his light-hearted pokes at his own smallish size by jumping up on furniture when called upon.
“See How They Run” is a production that is hard not to like, actually, from the perfect WWII time period costumes (Nancy Hills) and set design (Dennis Hassan) to the many moments of physical humor that are this production’s highlight.
“See How They Run” continues in repertory with “Amadeus,” “The 39 Steps” and “Little Shop of Horrors” until Aug. 6. in the Caine Lyric Theatre, 28 West Center, Logan. For tickets, go to http://arts.usu.edu