BWW Reviews: All Hail the Duke - THE PRINCE at Walnut Street Theatre's Studio 3

Bill Van Horn and Armen Pandola have created a well-written political comedy currently playing at the Walnut Street Theatre's Studio 3.  The Prince features two characters portrayed by the playwrights themselves. Nick Collas (Armen Pandola) is law ethics professor recounting to his students (the audience) the case of indicted politician Paul "The Duke" Ducachevski (Bill Van Horn). Both actors spend the entire time in these roles and therefore spend a good deal of time addressing invisible people. However, when Van Horn as the Duke has a meeting or personally greets people at a crowded event, the acting and writing allow the audience to clearly see the people he's addressing.

The show is performed in the round with five set locations - the Duke's office, a restaurant, an Italian food store, the Duke's house, and the podium that doubles as lecture stand and the witness stand. The theater in the round set-up definitely added a layer of interest to the show, however this added to the nature of the Studio 3 space made for a slight feeling of claustrophobia. At times, actors had to step over audience member's feet and some attendants found themselves fully lit. The ability to see other members of the audience rendered me unable to lose myself completely in the humor of the show. However I feel that this is just an evil of the space that could be better handled in a bigger theater.

Though it's apparent from the start that the Duke is guilty of all charges, both the script and Van Horn's acting cause the audience to truly root for wheeling and dealing politician. He truly doesn't believe what he did is wrong. The script is full of witty one liners, however my one complaint would be that the pacing often doesn't allow the audience to laugh at these clever moments. As a whole the show provides a wonderful 90 minutes of laugh out loud comedy for all in the audience. If you're looking for a fun night at the theater The Prince is your show.

The Prince plays at Walnut Street Theatre's Studio 3 until February 7.

For more information, please see the press release.