The Metromaniacs

B

If you have seen one of David Ives’s three previous riffs on classical French comedy — The School for Lies after Moliere, The Heir Apparent after Regnard and The Liar after Corneille — you will know exactly what to expect from this latest “translaptation” (what he calls his translated adaptations). A featherweight plot is sustained by the cleverness of Ives’s rhymed and often amusingly anachronistic couplets, artfully delivered by a talented cast in a stylish production. That’s what Ives again delivers, but this time out it does not seem quite as effortless. Ives had to dig deep to find his source, an obscure 1738 play by a virtually forgotten author, Alexis Piron. Based on actual events, it relates how a scorned Parisian poet got back at the literati by assuming the persona of a Breton shepherdess whose poetry charmed them all including Voltaire. In Ives’s version, the multiple impersonations and mistaken identifies are so complicated that even the actors get confused. The humor is a bit broader and the quality of the rhymes is a bit lower. The delightful cast includes holdovers from previous Ives plays — Christian Conn, Adam LeFevre and Amelia Pedlow — in addition to Noah Averbach-Katz, Adam Green (The Witch of Edmonton), Peter Kybart (Awake and Sing) and Dina Thomas (Tribes). Alas, Carlson Elrod, whose previous Ives performances added so much fun, is absent this time. Murell Horton is back with more wonderful costumes and Michael Kahn again directs with flair. The set design by James Noone (Sunset Boulevard) is also excellent. If you have not seen one of the earlier plays, you will probably be delighted; if you have, you might be a bit disappointed. Ives has apparently moved his New York base from Classic Stage Company to Red Bull Theater. CSC”s loss is a win for Red Bull. Running time: one hour 50 minutes including intermission.

Links to reviews of earlier Ives plays:

The School for Lies https://bobs-theater-blog.blogspot.com/2011/05/school-for-lies.html

The Heir Apparent https://bobs-theater-blog.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-heir-apparent.html

The Liar https://bobs-theater-blog.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-liar.html

The Government Inspector

B+

Red Bull Theater is presenting Jeffrey Hatcher’s clever adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s 1836 comic masterpiece about corruption in a provincial Russian town. One of the strengths of the play is that it is simultaneously deeply Russian and universal. Hatcher has wisely decided not to update it or deemphasize its Russianness. He lets the audience find their own similarities to our times. This production’s biggest plus is the casting of Michael Urie (Buyer and Cellar, TV’s Ugly Betty) as Hlestakov, the wastrel who is mistaken for the visiting inspector. He demonstrates a previously unseen talent for physical comedy that is prodigious. As the mayor, Michael McGrath channels his inner Nathan Lane to our delight. Mary Testa is a hoot as the mayor’s wife. Arnie Burton chews the scenery as the postmaster and is droll as Hlestakhov’s servant Osip. Most of the other ten actors (Stephen DeRosa, Ryan Garbayo, Kelly Hutchinson, David Manis, Ben Mehl, Talent Monohon, Luis Moreno, James Rana, Tom Alan Robbins, Mary Lou Rosato) create vivid characters and work well as an ensemble. At two hours, the comedy wears a little thin. Alexis Distler’s set design is problematic. While the sets for each of the play’s three locations are effective, presenting them as a bilevel unit seems to be an inelegant and unnecessary solution. I advise against sitting in the first two rows, because you might get a stiff neck from looking up at the set’s upper level, where the last 3/4 of the action takes place. Tilly Grimes’s period costumes are wonderful. Red Bull’s artistic director Jesse Berger keeps things moving fluidly. If you enjoy farce and slapstick, well-performed, you will have an enjoyable time. Running time: two hours including intermission.

’Tis Pity She’s a Whore ***

Red Bull Theater, which specializes in plays of the Jacobean era, is presenting John Ford’s bloody revenge drama in a solid production at The Duke on 42nd Street. Amelia Pedlow and Matthew Amendt, as incestuous siblings Annabella and Giovanni, lead a strong cast of fifteen. Annabella’s three suitors, Lord Soranzo, Grimaldi and Bergetto, are well-played by Clifton Duncan, Tramell Tillman and Ryan Garbayo respectively. Derek Smith is impressive in the critical role of Vasques, Soranzo’s loyal servant. Franchelle Stewart Dorn makes a fine Putana, Annabella’s tutoress. Everett Quinton is good as Signor Donado, Bergetto’s uncle. Christopher Innvar, as Giovanni’s tutor and confessor Friar Bonaventura, seemed less comfortable than the others with verse. Philip Goodwin, Ryan Farley, Kelley Curran, Marc Vietor, Auden Thornton and Rocco Sisto round out the cast. The complicated plot of competing revenge plots runs like a Swiss clock under Jesse Bergers brisk, confident direction. David M. Barber’s scenic design is elegantly simple and Sara Jean Tosetti’s costumes are attractive. The second act is quite a blood fest, but such were the conventions of the time. The production does not sensationalize the gore. All in all, it was an evening well-spent. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes, including intermission.                                                                           

The Mystery of Irma Vep: A Penny Dreadful ****

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 30 years since Charles Ludlum’s satire of Victorian melodrama was first staged. Red Bull Theater is celebrating this anniversary with a hilarious revival now at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. The play’s main gimmick is that all seven roles, both male and female, are played by two male actors — Ludlum and his longtime partner Everett Quinton in the original production. Ludlum died tragically three years after the play’s opening, but Quinton is fortunately still with us and has lovingly directed this revival starring Robert Sella and Arnie Burton. The play holds up surprisingly well and the actors acquit themselves quite honorably in all their roles: Lord Edgar and Lady Edith Hillcrest, the masters of Mandacrest; loyal servant Jane, one-legged swineherd Nicodemus, Egyptologist Alcazar, the mysterious Pev Amri, and, of course, Irma Vep. The convoluted plot is ridiculous in the extreme — just know that it involves the deceased first Lady Hillcrest, a vampire, a werewolf and a mummy. The language is floridly archaic (think “fain” and “gibbous”) with nods to Shakespeare and Poe, among others. The fast character changes are very funny, with one brilliant tour de force in the second act. And it’s not often you get to hear a dulcimer duet. The play’s Egyptian scene is side-slappingly funny. Scenic designer John Arnone, costume designer Ramona Ponce, lighting designer Peter West, sound designer Brandon Wolcott and wig designer Aaron Kinchen have all made delightful contributions to the production’s success. Be forewarned — if your tolerance for silliness and high camp is limited, you will not enjoy this show. There is absolutely no redeeming social value, just a lot of laughs. Running time: 2 hours including intermission.