Review by J.R. Rardon
It’s a good thing there’s always a doctor in the house when the Bard To Broadway theatre company stages The Ladies Man.
Because audience members may be at risk of splitting their sides with laughter at the racy, two-act farce that opened Friday night at Village Theatre in Qualicum Beach.
The Ladies Man follows the tribulations of Dr. Hercule Molineaux (B2B veteran Rob Atkinson), who is caught returning from a night away from home by his younger wife, Yvonne (Sheriden Collyer-Valens).
His small lie to explain his absence leaves Yvonne questioning his faithfulness and launches a cascading series of misunderstandings, mis-identification and near-misses that envelopes the entire cast in a play described as “a funny, fast-paced farce.”
Runners in next month’s Summer Olympics can only hope to be as fast-paced.
The script is adapted and translated from the 1886 play Tailleur Pour Dames by French playwright Georges Feydeau, set in the early 20th century in the Paris home and clinic Molineaux shares with Yvonne and his valet, Etienne (Paul Churchill).
As the increasingly exasperated Molineaux tries to extricate himself from the misunderstanding with his wife, he receives no help from the literal-minded and loose-lipped Etienne or from lisp-suffering patient Bassinet (B2B newcomer Cory Spence), who is trying to rent the doctor a dodgy former dressmaker’s shop for his new office.
To complicate matters, renowned stage actress Suzanne Aubin (played by Parksville newcomer Heather Harris) attempts to win Molineaux’s affections in a series of compromising situations, while her husband, the hulking, Prussian military officer Gustav, is trying to hunt him down.
Gustav Aubin is played by B2B veteran Brian Lecky, who may be the best casting choice of the B2B season. Lecky dives into the role with a thick German accent and an expression that rivals the confused countenance of the hapless Sergeant Schultz from the sitcom Hogan’s Heroes.
Into this mix comes Yvonne’s overbearing mother (Judy Hipkin), intent on inserting herself between Hercule and Yvonne. The cast is rounded out by young maid Marie (Kate Krynowsky), who spends her time fending off the advances of the randy Etienne while carrying her own secret.
The laughs come from the rapid-fire pacing of the dialogue, pulled off with aplomb by the cast under the deft direction of Kelly Barnum. While most of the punch lines are delivered with all the finesse of a sledgehammer, the ingenious script features some sneaky humour directed at the French, the Germans and at theatre itself, worked in during the play’s rare sedate moments.
The set boasts five doorways and one window, all of which are used by The Ladies Man cast — usually simultaneously — in a hilarious series of near-misses and coincidences.
If you suffer a case of whiplash while trying to follow the frenetic comings and goings, don’t worry: the doctor is in.
The Ladies Man continues with showings July 17-19 and 25-26, and Aug. 1-3, 10 and 13. The July 17 matinee is at 2 p.m. and all other shows are at
7:30 p.m. at Village Theatre, 110 W. 2nd Ave.
Tickets are $23 for adults, $21 for students and seniors, and $12 for children.
