Review: THERE'S A BURGLAR IN MY BED at The Arctic Playhouse

The Arctic Playhouse closes their exciting season with a crowd-pleasing, titillating production of Michael Parker’s screwball comedy, “There’s a Burglar in My Bed.”

Dutifully directed by Tony Annicone, the appropriately titled farce introduces an affluent married couple from Massachusetts, William Worthington (Ed Carusi) and his wife, Ashley (Laurie Lavallee, standing in for Sandi Nicastro). Ashley has planned a secret weekend escape to their summer home with her lover, Teddy (Bill Cabrera), where her husband has precisely the same intention with his mistress, Buffy (Denise Izzi).

Ashley reminds Teddy that divorcing her husband will leave her destitute, based on the terms of her prenuptial agreement--except in the case of infidelity, so they concoct a scheme and hire a private investigator, William Davis (Jim Mangiameli), to catch Mr. Worthington in a compromising position with Ashley’s libidinous friend, Marianne (Shaelyn Heroux).

Meanwhile, William very much wants to marry Buffy, but fears he will lose possession of a valuable necklace if he were to leave his wife, so they decide to stage a fake theft with the help of Buffy’s sister, Deborah (Kathleen Seagriff-Chapman).

Needless to say, and despite the coordinated efforts of all parties involved, things don’t exactly go according to plan. What follows is an intricate, well-executed, continuous cycle of amusing misunderstandings and false representations, with flawed entrances and exits that include disguises, pratfalls and the accidental overuse of a tranquilizer.

Carusi and Lavallee both deliver upstanding performances as the unhappily married couple at the center of the ensuing calamity. The always delightful Izzi sparkles as the gold-digging paramour and Cabrera charms as the easily swayed, not-so-stoic beau.

As the clumsy PI, an endearing Mangiameli spends most of his stage time tripping over the scenery, and Seagriff-Chapman justly portrays the conspirator and inadvertent thief. Heroux hilariously and effectively steals every scene—and the entire show—as the all-too-eager seductress.

I would argue the script is a little too long and some of the schticks are repetitive, yet the production has its share of laugh-out-loud moments and boasts some wonderful performances.

"There's a Burglar in My Bed" runs through June 4th at The Arctic Playhouse, 1249 Main Street in West Warwick, RI. For information and tickets, visit www.thearcticplayhouse.com or call 401-573-3443.

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