FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 2000. All Rights Reserved

Theatre by Jeff Goffin The Play’s The Thing Theatre Junction Runs until April 22 Betty Mitchell Theatre The Play’s The Thing has one of the silliest premises you’ll see in a comedy. Combine that silliness with a very clever script and director Mark Lawes’ insightful casting and this little drawing room comedy surpasses itself to end off Theatre Junction’s season in real style. Set in Hungary in the 1920s, The Play’s The Thing revolves around the playwriting duo of Turai and Mansky. When their young protégé Albert overhears an incriminating conversation between his fiancee Ilona and her old flame Almady, Albert is devastated but Turai is inspired. Turai actually writes a play including the overheard conversation so that it will appear Ilona was not unfaithful, she was merely rehearsing. This is a tremendously contrived set-up, but there isn’t a single false note in the play and when we finally get to see a run-through of Turai’s script the result is hilarious. Once again Lawes shows his great sense for getting the right person for the right role. Stephen Hair brings a touch of panache to the ever-so-refined Turai. Every bit his equal is the charming Wes Tritter as his writing partner Mansky. The chemistry between these two perfectly captures the sense of a successful old theatre duo à la Kaufman and Hart, or perhaps a 1920s version of Wayne and Shuster. At times they bicker like an old married couple, at others they finish each other’s sentences. Here’s hoping that Hair and Tritter will have more opportunities to work together like this. While Hair as Turai dominates the play with his stratagem for mending Albert’s broken heart, the rest of the cast has ample opportunity to shine. Frank Zotter is suitably dashing as the lovesick Albert, and Ravonna Dow is the perfect choice for the larger-than-life prima donna Ilona. Dow gives just the right sense of theatricality to Ilona and, combined with Alma Newton’s spectacular 1920s costumes, it’s not hard to see why she has so many men in her wake. Two pleasant surprises come in the supporting roles of Mell, the obsessive almost-neurotic stage manager played by Tom Sarsons, and Grant Paterson as the super-efficient, proper-to-a-fault, peri-wigged servant Dwornitschek. Completing the cast is the Svengali-like Almady, played by Ches Lorincz. Recklessly pursuing Ilona despite her attachment to Albert, Lorincz offers a touch of class to the boorish Almady. When he is forced to rehearse Turai’s outrageous version of a "French play" to cover his indiscretion, Lorincz provides a very funny climax to this very funny play.

| Back To This Issue Table of Contents | Back To Main Index |