It’s not only well
directed by Laura Wallace-Rhodes, and well acted by her cast,
but it’s screamingly funny. It is, infact, a farce, which is the
perfect genre for these times. As Ms. Wallace Rhodes puts it,
“An intrinsic element of Farce is the ability to master physical
comedy. It's not just slamming doors in the proper rhythm, but
falling over couches, crawling on your belly like a snake,
walking on your knees - all aspects of Farce are physically
demanding for the cast and they must make all of these moves
seem real for the characters or none of it is funny.”
And there’s a lot of
physical comedy in Cheaters, and it works.
The story is simple and the title says everything. There are two
married couples (Monica and Sam and Grace and Howard) and all of
them are cheating on their spouses. The killer is that they’re
cheating with the spouses of their adulterous lovers (i.e.,
Monica is with Howard and Grace is with Sam). But it doesn’t end
there.
Their children, Michelle
(the daughter of Grace and Howard) and Allen (the son of Monica
and Sam) are living together and contemplating marriage — at
least Michelle is. So, given this, the kids wonder, why don’t
they all have dinner one night? (No, the kids don’t know what
their parents do in their spare time!) The unbelievable,
delicious chaos that ensues has to be seen to be believed.
The actors give the
impression that they had a great good time putting this one
together -- Wallace-Rhodes admitted as much. Paul Failla, who
reminds one of the late Art Carney with his laconic voice and
perfect comedic timing, makes for a sweet and depressive Howard,
while Joan Rubinstein’s Monica is a marvel of vulgarity, with
her wild, tinselly get ups and crazed mane of white blonde hair.
Mary Ellen Kurtz is adorable as Grace, sexually naive despite
her long marriage, whose encounter with Sam (the wonderful Ed
Murray) liberates her libido. Sam too, is a bit of a nebbish
till his illicit night with Grace turns him into a roaring lion.
But they all must have
been good parents, as their kids, played very nicely by Aimee
Hiltz and Brian C. Cornelius, are sane. Allen may be
stereotypically afraid of commitment, but he’s sane.
Wallace-Rhodes, true to her beliefs, keeps the action going,
helped by Michael Hilger’s clever set design (the set starts out
with three beds, two in a cheap motel and one in Michelle and
Allen’s place. The beds are tucked away, one by one, till the
set morphs into Monica and Sam’s, then Grace and Howard’s
livingrooms) and Josh Scherr’s lighting design. Jason Allyn
coordinated the costumes, which, in Monica’s case, must have
been inspired by Harrow’s Christmas sale.
Cheaters is at The Broadhollow Theatre, 700 Hempstead Turnpike.
Catch it!
