It's true, you really ought to see how they run in this production of this comic classic. It almost wears one out, especially in the second half when Penelope Toop, played by Tristana Foutz (in the Monday/Friday cast), keeps her high heels literally clicking from door to door as she tries to guess what or who's going to happen next.
The energy - not to mention the almost predictable level of chaos - is high as foible after disaster befalls this vicar's household. ("Don't bicker, vicar!") It makes for almost nonstop laughs and a really good workout for the cast.Each member did themselves proud and truly created characters to be remembered as Ida the maid, played by Diane Fawcett Reaveley, becomes a favorite and as Sgt. Towers, played by Mike Wisland, is ordered to "arrest . . . most of these people!"
Intensely interested in the current available male, Reaveley also brings warmth and humor to an otherwise minor character who provides the glue that sticks the thinly disguised sitcom plot together.
Surprisingly, so does Miss Skillon, played by Tanya Radebaugh, an old, tight-faced busybody who's determined to get some goods on the minister's new wife.
She gets increasingly funny as she keeps visiting the closet and unintentionally mixing it up in the "family" brawl. Her timing and delivery is nice.
Another standout in this cast of talented actors is the Rev. Arthur Humphrey, played by Peter Brown.
Just when you think no one can add anything more to this already well-thickened plot and crazy story, Brown brings a dimension to Humphrey that's both appealing and amazingly honest. He just can't figure out what these good people are doing, but he'll try to help! Curt Doussett, as Cpl. Clive Winton, is another great addition. He delivers the almost innocently tossed one-liners with grace. His remarks bring some of the best chuckles.
Mike Gray is fine as the Bishop of Lax, as is Cody Hale running in as the Intruder just long enough to get the plot a little more mixed up.
Set design is good and non-intrusive, and costuming is elegant without being overdone. Lighting and sound is done well enough to just be there without being noticed.
The direction is obviously well-placed. Some bits, like the scene with everyone leaping over a body that isn't on the floor anymore and the freeze-scene recaps after the intermission, take the play from ho-hum humor to the absolutely hilarious.
This is good comedy that is cleanly done. It's well-written, with a lot of witticism that holds up. "I'd be shot at dawn and they'd cancel my next leave!"
It starts just a bit slowly but picks up soon enough to make it work. If there's anything about it that isn't great, it's that there's never enough time to fully catch your breath.
- NOTE: The show's Mon-day/
Fri-day cast is spotlighted in this review. The Thursday/Saturday cast includes Kim Stone as Ida, Linda Hale as Miss Skillon, Mark Pulham as the Rev. Toop, Marydee Potter as Penelope Toop, Curt Doussett as Clive Winton, Rocky Revels as The Intruder, L.D. Weller as the Bishop of Lax, Jaron Hinckley as the Rev. Arthur Humphrey and Scott Wetsel as Sgt. Towers.