Farce, as a genre, is hard. 2nd Story Theatre in Warren, RI acknowledges that right off the bat. In her discussion notes for the production, Eileen Warburton, Ph.D. paraphrases Sir Donald Wolfit: "Get it right and the audience is howling hysterically. Get it wrong and they yawn."
2nd Story's
A Flea In Her Ear is an unqualified howl. This production is an intricate, comic timing, wonder.
There isn't a lot of middle-American context for French Farce. In the wider genre, British television's
Fawlty Towers or the film adaptation of
Noises Off are each reasonable points of reference for the chaos that is going on at 2nd Story.
The play is broken into three short, lightning speed paced, acts. In the three acts, there are 300 entrances. A door slams every 20 seconds and Tristan Jeffers' stage design is near-perfect for the space. There are mistaken identities, a fair amount of liquor, more than its share of randy characters, pages and pages of risque' humor and a "conquistador" from Barcelona. In style and substance, the play wants for nothing.
Artistic Director Ed Shea has assembled a cast of local talent including Ryan Maxwell, who translated the piece.
A true ensemble piece, each of the actors in this large cast must be firing on all cylinders for this feat of staging to work, and they are.
Jim Sullivan is really terrific, when you see
Flea, you'll know why.
If you have been waiting, procrastinating, on that trip to 2nd Story: quit stalling. This is the play, this is the production. Community theater doesn't get any better than this.
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