When wives collide
Marital mishaps take the stage in trite but amusing tale of swinging London
by Karla Kane – Palo Alto Weekly
A South London cabbie called John Smith is a “quite ordinary” man who lives with his wife in a flat in Wimbledon. There’s also a cab-driving John Smith living with his wife in nearby Streatham.
The fact that it’s the very same John Smith leading a polyamorous double life is the crux of the Ray Cooney comedy “Run for Your Wife,” Palo Alto Players’ current production.
Smith (Paul Wells), who appears mild-mannered and of rather average charms, has managed to keep his two wives, though they live just minutes apart, unaware of each other’s existence. That’s thanks to a complicated system of work schedules, codes and planning.
Things go haywire when, after being knocked out in a mugging, he’s taken to the hospital and in his confusion gives out his wrong address at the wrong time. Once policemen from both of his neighborhoods get involved, Smith must scramble to keep up his life(s) of bigamist bliss. As the wives get more suspicious and Smith’s lies more convoluted and elaborate, the plot thickens into a stew of slapstick antics.
The Players seem to be striving for an Austin Powers-esque tone of shagadelic mayhem, but the story is actually quainter than that. Though it’s set in the swinging London of 1967 (a point that is hammered home thanks to a mod set, cartoonish costumes and music from the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Spencer Davis Group), the story is the sort of classic old-fashioned British farce that has caused giggles since the heyday of music-hall variety entertainment and before. And apparently the charming cliche that English people feel a nice cup of tea can fix anything remains alive and well.
The play is carefully and cleverly constructed so that each aspect of Smith’s two parallel lives has its counterpart in the other. The Players’ production handles this visually with great aplomb.
In Wimbledon, Smith has his sensible brunette wife Mary (Jean Naughton), sporting a smooth, chic bob and clothes in shades of green and blue. In Streatham, seductive wife Barbara (Kate Phillips) is a fluffy-haired blonde, resplendent in pinks. Each neighborhood has its own gray-haired police inspector, complete with matching fedoras, and each of Smith’s flats comes with its own meddlesome upstairs neighbor.
The set design by Kuo-Hao Lo is especially lovely, as it makes one flat, decorated in a psychedelic color scheme with mod design elements and mid-century furniture function as two, without any movement or set changes whatsoever. One half of the set features a pink-and-purple circle graphic motif while the other features the same colors reversed, with squares. This subtle but effective visual device makes it clear two different homes are being evoked.
Because this is very British humor indeed, the whole cast has British accents, with mixed results. There is one true Londoner among the cast (I won’t name names), and her authentic voice does make the Americans’ attempts pale a bit in comparison. Jonathon Ferro, who plays gormless Wimbledon neighbor Stanley Gardner, has an accent that ranges from entirely absent to vaguely Australian. Happily, his performance is otherwise delightful, as he is a gifted comic actor who has seemingly studied at the Monty Python school of funny reactions and double takes.
All the actors do well with their rather one-dimensional roles, with my favorite performances coming from John Baldwin and Mark Rawlins as the two policemen — the former warm and overly friendly, the latter overly proper and deadpan.
The plot is, of course, absurd, but that’s half the fun in a farce. What may make modern audiences uncomfortable is that “Wife,” which debuted in 1983, relies heavily on making fun of gay and homophobic stereotypes that may have seemed cutting-edge 20 years ago (and in the 1960s) but now seem quite dated. Steve Anthony’s role as the flamboyant, effeminate neighbor Bobby Franklin, for instance, and Gardner’s horror at being presumed gay draw laughs but soon become cringe-worthy.
In addition, while throughout the play the complications build to a fever pitch of screwball situations, the actual ending is quite anticlimactic.
Fans of low-brow British comedy (author included) will find “Wife” a trite yet amusing experience, but those bored or offended by repeat potty humor, the corniest of double entendres or puns on homosexual slang may not find it to be their cup of tea.
What: “Run For Your Wife” by Ray Cooney, presented by the Palo Alto Players Where: Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto When: Through June 28 with 8 p.m. shows Thursday through Saturday and 2:30 p.m. matinees on Sundays Cost: Tickets are $30 general, and $26 for seniors and students on Thursdays and Sundays. Info: Go to www.paplayers.org or call 650-329-0891.
