Review: 13 RUE DE L'AMOUR farces French style at Theatre Southwest

Georges Feydeau is recognized as a classical master of the French farce, and 13 RUE DE L'AMOUR has everything you'd expect. There are slamming doors, lots of sexual innuendo, mistaken identity, clothes switching owners, and quickly changing circumstances for all characters involved. It's bawdy and broad, much more of a well constructed trifle rather than a cumbersome piece of classical literature from 1892. It's a strange choice of material for Theatre Southwest, but whenever director Ananka Kohnitz shows up in their house safety goes out the window. She is known for having directed BUG, DRACULA, and ASYLUM all of which stretched the idea of community theatre leaning staunchly towards art. She treats this material the same way, making it colorful and choreographed. Nuance is nowhere to be found, rather she has chosen broad strokes and garish costumes on a psychedelic set. Her cast goes for broke as they stoop to conquer the French sex comedy.

Farce is described in the director's notes as "tragedy played at a thousand revolutions per minute", and that is what the production aims for throughout. For the most part, the cast all get there. They are set on an ornate Rococo stage with lots of red and gold swirls racing around several levels. The scene changes twice in the piece over the three acts with great ingenuity and precision. The costumes mirror the set, and Amber Stepanik and Ananka use couch fabric and 1890s Paris fashion as inspiration. Wigs, makeup, and hair introduce a punky take on the same era with everybody sent over the top no matter who they are playing. It's an off-kilter world that is as designed as the mechanics of the plot.

The actors play the material broad and exaggerated without any hesitation. Romantic leads Christopher Conway and Renata Santoro Smith start off the show making bullets which resemble them both manipulating their genitals in suggestive ways. Right away the tone is set, and we realize the play's take on infidelity and sex are going to be front and center. Interestingly enough the men in the show are played as over the top foppish, so there is a female air around even the males that creates a less dangerous sexuality which expands the comedy quite a bit. Everybody is European, horny, and queer.

Christopher Conway, Renata Santoro Smith, and Joseph "Chepe" Lockett anchor the production as man in love with married woman, morally righteous wife, and philandering husband. Their plight is played out throughout three acts as Conway attempts to seduce his chosen object of lust at any cost or consequence. This trio does a fine job bouncing off each other throughout, and they manage the farce pacing and extreme choreography ably. The supporting cast is also strong with Brian Heaton and Julie Oliver stealing any scene they find themselves inserted into. These two seem to find the right pitch for farce which is wildly over the top without apology. Alicia Spade, Tad Howington, and David Chapin manage their roles in the fashion ordained by the production. Ash Slaughter and John Schneider get to play around with a Keystone cop routine as silent police officers inserted in the proceedings. There is a running theme of American comedy inserted into moments throughout including homage to Chaplin, the Three Stooges, and most notably several beats of Mel Brooks.

This is theater by design rather than organic moments of human emotion. The director has taken her background in dance and created a show that is colorful and choreographed as any ballet or opera would be. 13 RUE DE L'AMOUR is a funny French farce made fierce in this production at Theatre Southwest. It is an ambitious piece that raises the bar on several levels for smaller theater houses. The construction is sublime and the actors live up to the world they are thrown in. It feels often like a naughty French cartoon come to life, and it's an enjoyable evening of silly musings on infidelity. It all feels fresh and funny even when it serves everything heavy on style and mannered performances. It's like a yummy bon bon from the best French chocolatier.

13 RUE DE L'AMOUR runs through June 18th on Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm with one matinee performance on June 5th. Tickets can be reserved through the website at www.theatresouthwest.org or by phone at (713) 661-9505.

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