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'Humble Boy' is full of surprises
(by Herb Hammer - May 20, 2010)
THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER
'Humble Boy' is full of surprises
Charlotte Jones' memorable "Humble Boy," so densely plotted in contrivances, spews British farce without actually being a farce at all. Her complex comedy is given a nimble turn at Dobama Theatre, now in its first season on Lee Road.
At times deadly serious, at others loaded up with hilarity, the Dobama offering lives up to its decade's-old tradition of performing good work with good performances.
Miss Jones has slyly connected her British garden play with touches of Hamlet. This ploy must have been for her own amusement, for it has little, if any, effect on her often-startling work.
The play is loaded with surprises and comes at you late in the game. First and foremost is Flora Humble, an aging beauty who is clearly attempting to hang on, for she has just had cosmetic surgery on her nose and has lost her sense of smell.
Flora's son, the brooding and stuttering Flex, has just returned from Cambridge. Though we are told Flex is an astrophysicist, the hunched-over 30-something scholar appears to be more undereducated than overeducated.
Flex has returned home to attend his father's funeral. The dead father, a biology teacher and beekeeper, was apparently allergic to one strain of bee. He dropped dead in the garden.
Other characters include Mercy Lott, Flora's ditsy friend who often acts as Flora's maid, George Pye, the big-band-addicted neighbor who is desperate to marry Flora, and George's daughter, Rosie, whose 7-year-old child just may have been fathered by Flex. But we really don't know that. And then there is the gardener, Jim, who has more to do with the plot than one could ever imagine.
Ron Newell's set design is some kind of modern stage miracle. We're in the rear of the humble home, a stone structure with a spacious yard and garden. Mr. Newell uses the entire Dobama thrust arena stage for his remarkable work.
Without giving too much away, it's easy to explain Act 1 and its wandering exposition. As each character is introduced, we learn about their loony idiosyncrasies.
Greg Violand's over-the-top portrayal of George Pye gets under your skin. Why the ritzy Flora would want to marry him is unimaginable. Of course, Miss Jones is having a bit of fun with us, for the marriage would make her Mrs. Humble-Pye.
Andrew Cruse plays Flex with an array of complexities until the surprise ending, when he stabilizes the character and gives him some normalcy.
Laurel Johnson is a spunky Rosie with problems of her own. Her British accent, though, is at times difficult to follow.
And then there is the scene-stealing Laura Starnik, as Mercy Lott, who takes the best of the comic lines and brings the house down.
Brian Zoldessy, as Jim, the gardener, only appears when Flex is on the stage alone. His manner suggests there is more to this character than meets the eye.
Act 2 is where the hilarity begins and all the surprises leap forward. Somehow, Miss Jones leaves us with a somber note before the final curtain.
Imaginary directing, smart dialogue and a plot that never ceases to amuse, "Humble Boy" is Dobama's gift to playgoers.
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