Re-imagine ... with rubber chicken


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Dexter Brigham, executive artistic director for Festival 56, bounded onstage to introduce the first show of Festival 56’s 2009 summer run and told the audience that the theme of the summer is “Re-imagine ... ” While the rest of the season promises re-imagined approaches to such theater classics as “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Sound of Music,” most audience members (myself included) may not have encountered Jack Sharkey’s farcical comedy “Who’s on First?” before now. I can’t imagine a better way of introducing the idea of new twists on what might be familiar plotlines.

This is where my review becomes difficult. A great deal of my enjoyment of the evening (and it was very enjoyable) was the fun of not knowing what was to come, aside from a rough indication that it would involve four actors, a magic lamp (as in Aladdin), a rubber chicken, and the repetition of the same hour over and over again (as in Groundhog Day), So I will not reveal much more than that; come see the performance and savor discovering all the twists and turns for yourself.

What I will share with you is an appreciation of a theater organization that is firmly on its artistic feet. The newly-renovated lobby and bar of the Grace Performing Arts Center are delightful spaces (I had not been able to attend any of the open house events, so this was my first look inside). In the theater itself, Adam Spencer’s single-unit apartment set provided a convincing and realistic background to the increasingly unreal action of the play, while the pre-show sound design hinted that something surreal and perhaps ridiculously “fowl” lay in wait. Part of the fun of this production was looking for the small changes in props and set decoration that occur between each scene. The lighting and sound team also produced quality stage magic in conveying the effect of the magic lamp, some of which, however, was hampered at times by timing issues between tech and actors.

The four actors obviously relished the broad acting strokes of the piece. Matthew Folsom and Alesia Lawson are both physical comedians who can do as much with the widening of an eye or the jiggle of a leg as with a pratfall (they will appear as the Scarecrow and Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” — their acting chemistry here promises good things for that pairing). Matt Scott made full use of the shifts in his character to demonstrate a masterful range of acting styles. New to Festival 56, Donna Schulte gave an outstanding performance that felt warm and natural, even when the comedy was turned up to the maximum. As with the set, her real, folksy quality anchored the farce, helping the audience keep its connection to the ever-zanier action of the play.

With a season that seems bound to take some risks, or at least to ask its audiences to be willing to look at things in a new light, Festival 56 has chosen to start with a crowd-pleasing comedy that, as a matter of plot, constantly asks, “how might this be different?” Or, at the very least, it provides multiple options for finding meaning in a rubber chicken. “Who’s on First?” runs only through Thursday, so don’t wait if you want to catch it!