READ TODAY'S STORIES AND E-EDITION SUBSCRIBE |  CONTACT US |  SIGN IN

Print story only Print story with comments Email Twitter Facebook Pinterest
Going "Boeing-Boeing" in Fayetteville
Published: 9/7/2011 10:50 PM
Last Modified: 9/7/2011 10:50 PM

No doubt “Boeing-Boeing” was thought the summit of sauciness when first it soared onto stages in the early 1960s.

After all, Marc Camoletti’s farce is about a fellow in France who is happily juggling affairs with three different women who fly the friendly skies for a living — and this was a time when “dating a stewardess” held the same sort of connotation as “dating a supermodel” might now.

To watch this 50-year-old play today, however, is to realize that “Boeing-Boeing” is really a comedy of innocence. Yes, our Lothario is planning to have breakfast with one girl, lunch with another and dinner with the third — and what could POSSIBLY go wrong with that setup? — and each of these young ladies will at one point or another will insist upon taking a bath.

But the focus of the play isn’t Bernard, the Romeo who has worked out his romantic maneuvers with geometric precision. It’s his new-to-the-big-city friend Robert, who is at first so gob-smacked by Bernard’s amorous adventures that’s willing to risk life, limb and sanity to keep the three women innocent of each other’s existence.

And out of that flows a non-stop flurry of frenetic physical and verbal comedy that makes “Boeing-Boeing” — as it is staged by Theatre Squared in Fayetteville, Ark. — one deliriously, hilariously fun show.

I have wanted to see the work Theatre Squared — or T2, for short — does for some time now. The six-year-old organization, led by artistic director Robert Ford and managing director Martin Miller, describes itself as northwest Arkansas professional regional theater company, and it employs both Equity and non-Equity actors and crew members.

Past seasons have included everything from Shakespeare to Neil LaBute, with a good helping of original plays (the company for the past two years has hosted the Arkansas New Play Festival, presenting new plays and works-in-progress).

Theatre Squared presents its shows in a black box space in the Nadine Baum Studio of the Walton Arts Center in downtown Fayetteville. It seats a little less than 200 people. One nice touch is that the theater staff — realizing that its seats are not as padded as some might want —offers its audience members foam cushions as they enter the theater. Granted, it might be simply a placebo effect, but the experience of sitting a couple of hours in the Nadine Baum Studio was a lot more comfortable than spending half that amount of time in one of those contraptions that are passed off as seating in the Tulsa PAC’s black box spaces.

This production also had ties to Tulsa theater. The show’s bachelor pad set — all in white and black, and complete with seven doors to be swung open and slammed (this IS a farce, after all) — was designed by Shawn Irish, who has served as Playhouse Tulsa’s resident stage designer.

And Playhouse artistic director Chris Crawford had the lead role as Robert, while another Tulsa actor, Jenny Guy, was one of the three air hostesses convince she is the only love Bernard (Jim Goza).

Bernard is able to maintain his clockwork-like conquests thanks to a master schedule of airline routes, a friend at the Orly airport who screens prospective paramours, and the Gallic grumpiness of his maid Berthe (Erika Wilhite), who very good about pointing out such as life “is not easy,” especially as she has to cook to appease three very different guests, none of whom are French.

There’s Gloria (Nicole Thurman), the American who works for TWA; Gabriella (Paloma Nozicka), who bring amore via Alitalia; and Gretchen (Guy), the liebchen from Lufthansa.

Gloria is just leaving when Robert comes to call on Bernard. The two haven’t met in years, and Robert is as awestruck by Bernard’s lifestyle as he is made goggle-eyed by Gloria’s charms.

Robert is so impressed with what Bernard has achieved — it is the bachelor pad philosophy writ large — that he’s determined to maintain whatever façade in necessary at any given moment, to preserve the delicate balance among his friend’s conflicting love lives.

And when changes in schedules, bad weather and other complications force Robert into all sorts of physical and emotional contortions, you get to witness a really superb portrayal of a simple fellow coming slowly, hilariously unglued.

Few actors can portray that feeling of so many conflicting thoughts spinning through a person’s mind that one’s head just might explode from the effort as well as Crawford — he even blushes on cue, whenever one of the ladies pays Robert a little extra attention.

It’s also a punishingly physical role, as the condition of Crawford’s shirt at the end of Act One amply demonstrated, but Crawford maintains a level of grace from start to finish — and he’s on stage practically the entire play.

Guy is very good as the proudly Germanic Gretchen, whose undying commitment to Bernard might not be as undying as she professes. She also does a better job of maintain the accent than Nozicka, who never quite sounds Italian. Thurman is a suitably brash American, with appetites to match.

Goza makes the extremely callow Bernard almost likable, and he’s a wonderfully loose-limbed physical comedian, well balanced by Wilhite’s seemingly stolid but subtly sly Berthe.

For all its pratfalls and slapstick, slammed doors and slapped faces, farce is a very delicate thing. Director Morgan Hicks has done an excellent job of honing the performances so that the action flows like a berserk ballet, and it carries you along so that you haven’t time to think about how unbelievable the whole thing is. You just watch, and you just laugh. And sometimes, that is exactly the sort of entertainment one needs.

“Boeing-Boeing” continues with performances through Sept. 25. For more information, go to tulsaworld.com/theatre2.





Reader Comments 2 Total
Jayhawk Ken (last year)
... and, with the guidance of these words, we make plans to just watch and just laugh this very night over in Fayetteville. Thank you once again, trusted scout.
PrayingHam (last year)
"Granted, it might be simply a placebo effect, but the experience of sitting a couple of hours in the Nadine Baum Studio was a lot more comfortable than spending half that amount of time in one of those contraptions that are passed off as seating in the Tulsa PAC’s black box spaces."

Mr. Watts, you must admit, your lack of comfort sitting in the TPAC's black box seats cannot be entirely blamed on the design of the chairs.
2 comments displayed


To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.

ARTS

James D. Watts Jr. has lived in Oklahoma for most his life, even though he still has people saying to him, "Don't sound like you're from around these parts." A University of Oklahoma Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Watts has received the Governor Arts Award, Harwelden Award and the National Conference of Christians and Jews Beth Macklin Award for his writing. Before coming to the Tulsa World, Watts worked for the Tulsa Tribune.

Contact him at (918) 581-8478.

Subscribe to this blog


Archive

 
James D. Watts Jr's Blog Archive:

2/2013  1/2013  12/2012  11/2012  10/2012  9/2012  
8/2012  7/2012  6/2012  5/2012  4/2012  3/2012  
2/2012  1/2012  12/2011  11/2011  10/2011  9/2011  
8/2011  7/2011  6/2011  5/2011  4/2011  3/2011  
2/2011  1/2011  12/2010  11/2010  10/2010  9/2010  
8/2010  7/2010  6/2010  5/2010  4/2010  3/2010  
2/2010  1/2010  12/2009  11/2009  10/2009  9/2009  
8/2009  7/2009  6/2009  5/2009  4/2009  3/2009  
2/2009  1/2009  12/2008  11/2008  10/2008  9/2008  
8/2008  7/2008  6/2008  5/2008  4/2008  








Home | Contact Us | Search | Subscribe | Customer Service | About | Advertise | Privacy
Copyright © 2013, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.