BWW Reviews: JEEVES IN BLOOM Takes Root at Oyster Mill Playhouse

Jeeves, ah, Jeeves. Reginald Jeeves, bastion of propriety, font of all wisdom, rescuer of bunglers. Jeeves, the finest literary creation of P.G. Wodehouse, the imperturbable valet and philosopher, as well as first-rate schemer. It is always a pleasure to read of Jeeves and of his charge, the amazingly ineffectual "preux chevalier" Bertie Wooster. It is always a pleasure to watch the two in tandem, as well, as many have done when they've caught Stephen Fry's and Hugh Laurie's classic "Jeeves and Wooster" series. They appear everywhere in all that is English entertainment (so do Fry and Laurie, for that matter), including as their alter-egos Bunter and Lord Peter Wimsey in Dorothy Sayers' mystery novel series.

For those who can't get enough Jeeves and Wooster, or enough British comedy, or simply enough laughs in general, there's JEEVES IN BLOOM by Margaret Raether, an adaptation of Wodehouse's classic "Right Ho, Jeeves" that premiered at Chicago's First Folio Theatre in 2010. (The Illinois playwright has also crafted JEEVES INTERVENES and JEEVES TAKES A BOW.) It's currently on stage at Oyster Mill Playhouse, directed by Lois Heagy, where audiences are laughing somewhat more than may be allowed by local ordinances.

Jim "Bluto" Fisher is Bertie Wooster there, where despite his slightly too-hale-and-hearty looks (those familiar with Hugh Laurie's portrait of the slightly imbecilic gentleman will have a picture of more slender ineffectuality in mind) certainly has the attitude of a Wooster, from his conveying of Bertie's belief in his own diminished intelligence to his displays of heroic chivalry and his air of determination - mostly in trying to avoid his Aunt Dahlia's brilliant scheme du jour. Perhaps Bertie has taken up polo and gained a bit of health and muscularity. There's no denying that Fisher sounds and acts exactly like a man trying to save his neck from his aunt's genius and his friend's possible girlfriend's clutches. At the very same time. No one said that being a member of the idle rich was easy.

Without Bertie Wooster, there would be no Jeeves, but once there is Jeeves... there is Jeeves. Jeeves should be implacable, imperturbable, and omniscient, and Jeff Wasileski displays all of that, from knowing the scientific classification of newts to plotting traps to catch escaped French chefs. Waslieski may leave members of the audience planning kidnapping attempts to get such a nonpareil of domestic genius working in their homes, though he might not appreciate the attempts. He's not Stephen Fry, which is fortunate, because it's virtually impossible to do Stephen Fry. But he most definitely fits Jeeves, puppetmaster of the life of one Bertram Wooster.

Nick and Ellen Hughes are the delight of the show as Aunt Dahlia and uncle-by-marriage Thomas Travers. Ellen Hughes is ridiculously funny and perfectly timed in her comic punches, and Nick Hughes' portrayal of the English country gentleman with a bee in his bonnet and a shotgun on his arm... especially when there shouldn't be... is lovely. Their scenes together are themselves reason to be in the audience.

The surprise of the show is the delicious turn of Jeff Wasileski's son, Nick, as Gussie Fink-Nottle, Bertie's newt-loving friend whose romantic life is somewhat more than lacking. True, he's an Apollo award winner, but his skills aren't merely superior to other high school actors in a given year - they're superior to begin with. He's able to hold up to playing an age contemporary of Fisher's directly against Fisher though he's just graduated from Camp Hill High School, and he's gifted not only at timing but at physical comedy. It's a pleasure to see him on stage, and we expect to hear good things about him after he heads to West Chester University for acting classes.

This writer's main criticism of the performances may be that Anatole, the volatile French chef in the Travers household, felt a little too laid back and unlikely to use his cleaver on breathing creatures. He should make a rampaging Gordon Ramsay look tame, but seemed just a tad insufficiently homicidal in his wrath.

The set is nicely done as a trellised rose garden, and the action takes place there and on the patio of the Travers country home. Look forward to seeing snooping, spying, hiding, and virtually everything else imaginable happening behind those trellises. Put on your Phillip Treacy garden hats and your cricket whites, grab a Pimm's Cup, and imagine yourself sitting in a corner of the garden watching the mayhem - until, of course, Jeeves saves the day. Once again.

This is the sort of play at which Oyster Mill Playhouse excels and for which its stage design is perfectly suited. Perhaps we may hope to see some of Raether's other Wodehouse stage adaptations at Oyster Mill. Lois Heagy has a nice grasp of the one-set (though it's usually drawing room) English play, and it would be great fun to see her direct those as well. Heagy's forte, the one-set British stage piece, is the potato chip of theatre - if you like them, you can't watch just one.

Through June 22 at Oyster Mill Playhouse. Call 717-737-6788 or visit www.oystermill.com for tickets and information.

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