The University of Rhode
Island's Theatre Department's third show is a new version of George
Feydeau's French farce "A Flea in Her Ear" by David Ives. The play
is considered one of the greatest French farces, perhaps the
greatest farce ever written. Madame Raymonde Chandebise becomes
obsessed with the notion her husband Victor's lack of interest in
sex with her means he has taken to seeing other women. He is a
placid and successful insurance executive. To find out if her
suspicions are correct, she has her best friend, Lucienne, write an
anonymous letter proposing a rendezvous at the disreputable Frisky
Puss Hotel. Victor thinks the letter is for his coworker, the
gigolo, Tournel. He sends him in his place to the rendezvous.
Meanwhile, Camille, Victor's nephew, is overjoyed to have his speech
impediment corrected by Dr. Finache. In celebration, he and the
household cook, Antoinette, also hurry to the same hotel. They are
followed by her jealous husband, Etienne, the Chandesbise's valet.
The doctor decides to go there for an afternoon fling. Meanwhile
Lucienne's jealous Spanish husband, Carlos shows up with pistols and
Camille is unable to warn anyone because of his ridiculous speech
impediment. A drunken bellboy Poche is an exact double of Victor.
Raymonde thinking it is Victor, keeps trying to escape from the
hotel with Tournel who incessantly tries to seduce her. A revolving
bed keeps flinging them from room to room. All the people that went
to the Hotel return to the Chandebise home utterly confused about
what happened at the Frisky Puss with Ferralion, Poche and Eugenie
putting in appearances there but since this a farce all things
eventually work themselves out and Raymonde's flea in her ear
disappears. Director Alan Hawkridge casts some fabulous college
performers in these madcap roles and obtains dynamite results as the
audience laughs all night long at their crazy and wild antics.
Alan directs the show
splendidly and infuses this farce with a fast pace and frantic
movements and gestures. From the door slamming, the double takes,
the innuendos and mistaken identity, this cast executes them
perfectly, making this show a laugh riot from start to finish. The
audience's reaction to their comic antics wins them
a standing ovation, proving Alan, an excellent director. The
gorgeous early 20th century costumes are by David Howard including a
stunning red dress for Lucienne and a purple dress for Raymonde.
Scenic design is by Katryne Hecht with two separate sets:one of the
Chandebise home which is enormous and ornately decorated with a
stunning large purple Victorian sofa with four doors and a giant
window while the other one is the sleazy hotel setting for the
illicit affairs with many doors, a stairway and a giant pouffe.The
lighting design is by Matthew Terry and sound by Michael Hyde.
Alan's cast ranges from
freshmen to seniors and they all make the most of their roles.
Benjamin Grills, a senior, plays the dual role of Victor and the
hotel porter, Poche. He shows his range as an actor going from the
wealthy husband to the drunken, buffoonish oaf with ease.( As Poche,
he walks hunched over) The audience always knows who the character
is. One of the funniest things is when he is constantly being hit by
a riding crop and kicked in the behind. Ben knows how to work the
crowd obtaining gales of laughter from them at his crazy
antics. Katie Travers, a beautiful red head, matches Ben's energetic
portrayal marvelously. She makes the exposition of the show fly by
and displays her jealous behavior as she explains her husband's lack
of interest in sex lately after having been a marvel in the bedroom
in the past. The hilarious scenes with Tournel in the whorehouse are
outstanding as they run all around the hotel being pursued by
various people. Katie's zany behavior adds to the merriment of the
show. Jesse Dufault displays the egotistical behavior needed for Tournel.
His conceited and arrogant posturing and proclamations that he can
woo any woman he wants is right on the money. Jesse wins many laughs
as this pompous playboy especially when Victor picks him up to choke
him in the latter two acts.. Betsy Rinaldi shines as Lucienne who
plots and plans with Raymonde to make Victor pay for his suspected
behavior. She is very funny as their plans fall apart caught up by
their own misdeeds. Betsy's conversation with her jealous husband in
Spanish is one of her standout moments as are her confused looks at
Camille's unintelligible warnings to her. Her crazed and maniacal
husband, Don Carlos is played by Albert Coelho. He commands his
scenes with his strong line delivery and obtains gales of laughter
at his erratic behavior and firing of his pistol several times.
Another client at the Inn is Dr. Finache played beautifully by Ben
Rose, a senior. He has a many humorous lines including "Where
there's a willy there's a way when Victor tells of his problem in
the bedroom and is hilarious when he appears in his underwear in the
hotel scene. The doctor is very condescending as he describes things
in his medical jargon. Funny moments include when he shows off
Camille's silver palate, hypnotize's Poche and Etienne and the
ammonia treatment he recommends for Victor and Poche in the last
scene.
One of the biggest scene
stealers in this show is Mike Puppi as Camille. He has the most
difficult role in the show as a person with a speech impediment, he
can't pronounce vowels and has to make his dialogue clear to the
audience. While playing up the humor of other cast members not being
able to understand him. Mike makes the transition from talking with
the impediment to speaking clearly a standout scene in the show. He
is a hoot as he quakes and quails behind the door and runs screaming
through the whorehouse about the Spaniard with the pistols and about
the two look-alike men later on in the last scene, appearing in his
underwear. The lusty maid, Antoinette who is secretly having an
affair with Camille is played by Hillary Scofield, while her jealous
husband Etienne is played by Birk Wozniak. They bring a great deal
of energy to these roles, making their time on stage memorable to
the audience. The Frisky Puss characters are hysterical from the
first time you see them onstage. Erick Betancort plays Ferrailon,
the military owner who runs the place like a battleship. He barks
orders to his workers and bosses everyone around. When they dawdle
or don't pay attention to him, he boots them in the ass. Caitlin
Tango plays his busty, long suffering wife, Olympia who screams and
faints while Kira Hawkridge plays the hunchbacked, constantly
smoking maid, Eugenie. Ferrailon's uncle Baptiste, an old man who is
on a revolving bed to act as a decoy for lovers who get caught in
the act is played by Johnny Sederquist(who wears a fright mask with
a huge nose) who screams his bones ache because of his rheumatism
while Collin Brown plays Rugby, an insane Englishman who wants to
have sex with every woman he sees. So for an outstanding farce, be
sure to catch "A Flea in Her Ear" at URI, before time runs out.
A FLEA IN
HER EAR ( 25 February to 7 March, 2010)
URI
Theatre, URI Fine Arts Center, Robert E. Will, Theatre, Upper
College Road,Kingston,RI
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