Drayton Entertainment’s production of Ray Cooney’s Run for Your Wife opened at the Dunfield theatre here on April 17 to a full house expecting the kind of laughs only British comedy can deliver.
The farce after all is a familiar one, having been quite popular on the London stage during the 1980s – and given the subject matter, it’s not hard to see why. However, when revived for a more contemporary audience, the bawdy jokes aimed at minority groups seem to miss their mark.
John Smith, a “rather ordinary” cab driver from London, England, finds his world crashing around him as a secret he’s managed to keep hidden for years threatens to surface: he has two wives – Mary in Wimbledon and Barbara in Streatham.
After a late-night mugging gets him involved with the police and his picture appears on the front page of the Newspaper, John must quickly figure out a way to keep his wives and the authorities from discovering his double-life.
As the play progresses, John’s explanations only get wilder and more extreme as more people are dragged into his string of lies, causing mix-ups, misunderstanding and mistaken identity.
The farce’s success is dependent on perfect timing with multiple scenes occurring simultaneously as characters rush back and forth between John’s two homes. This requires quick changes, and fast-paced entrances and exits. Coupled with over-the-top expressions, the effect is loud, boisterous and similar to watching the live taping of a British sitcom.
The cast’s comedic timing, and on-stage chemistry gives the impression they are having just as much fun as audience members, who laugh the whole way through at John’s innocent antics.
However, even a brilliant cast cannot save a script that leaves much to be desired.
The play’s social ignorance is part of its charm, as viewers chuckle to themselves and pretend such attitudes no longer exist. However, the story’s shock-value comes not from its dated jokes, but from its current offensiveness. Nearly every stereotype associated with women or the LGBTQ community is present in the production, with characters existing more as archetypes than people.
John’s first wife Mary Smith, played by Susie Burnett, is the Madonna. She is chaste, sweet and dresses conservatively. She dotes on John like a mother, fussing over him and desiring nothing more than to know what he’d like on his sandwich (tomatoes or pickles?).
His other wife Barbara Smith, played by Stacy Smith, is her opposite, as she waltzes across the stage in a negligée, giving John the best little-girl pout she can muster as she begs him to come to bed with her.
These age-old perceptions of women are further underlined by the names John gives them as he tries to hide his infidelity. Mary becomes “Sister Mary” of the local convent, and Barbara becomes “Lofty,” a transvestite he has befriended.
John has the best of both worlds it would seem: a woman for the kitchen and a woman for the bedroom.
Ironically, the audience ends up sympathizing with John as he tries to calm the two hysterical women whose lives revolve around his existence.
However, women are not the only subjects of Cooney’s punch lines. Perhaps more obvious is the blatant homophobia expressed by all characters. The exception being Barbara’s neighbour, fashion-designer Bobby Franklyn, played by Aidan deSalaiz, who of course is the archetype.
When a misunderstanding occurs suggesting John and his neighbour Stanley Gardner, played by Michael Lamport, are in fact having an adulterous relationship of their own, the resulting desperation of the characters to disassociate from the men is almost embarrassing to watch.
All of this begs the question: do we laugh because the play is dated and such ideas seem ridiculous now, or do we laugh because we still uphold those hackneyed ideas?
Nevertheless, the script’s political ignorance does not seem to thwart the actors who bring it to life. You can’t help but love John as he tries to keep both his wives happy, and the antics of his neighbour Stanley, who aids him in the cover-up.
When the curtain falls, audiences may be left with a desire to wash their hands before exiting and resuming all outward signs of propriety.
Yet it seems unrestrained slapstick humour remains an ever-persistent guilty pleasure.
Run for Your Wife plays eight shows per week until May 4. For tickets visit dunfieldtheatrecambridge.com or call 519-621-8000, or toll free 1-855-DRAYTON (372-9866).
