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Humor never in doubt with Durang
(by Herb Hammer - July 14, 2010)
THEATER, BY HERB HAMMER
Humor never in doubt with Durang
Christopher Durang has been making fun of some very successful playwrights for a couple of decades. He claims to have written well over 100 short plays. Mr. Durang claims a lot of things. One thing is sure -- he is a very funny man. His parodies, spoofs and send-ups have been making audiences laugh outloud for a long time.
The Chagrin Valley Little Theatre currently is presenting plays by the acclaimed Mr. Durang, entitled "Durang/Durang." This mix of five plays was first staged in 1994. River Street Playhouse gives us the most often presented five, opening with "Mrs. Sorken," a one-woman introduction piece.
The highly talented Yvonne Pilarczyk shyly gazes at the audience, grasps her little red purse and begins to explain in a sort of chatty, seemingly ill-prepared style the meaning of theater. Her train of thought begins to wander after she opens her purse only to find some useless junk. Her giddiness and exceptional timing starts the evening off with an entertaining monologue and preamble of the fun that is on its way.
Next and certainly the best of the group is "For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls," an outrageous send-up of the Tennessee Williams classic "The Glass Menagerie." Amanda, the mother figure, played by the remarkable Harriet DeVeto, is stuck in her tiny apartment with her hypochondriac son, Lawrence, who replaces Laura from the original. Lawrence, who walks with an occasional foot-dragging limp, is played by the remarkable Andrew Parmelee. Amanda has been able to convince her son Tom to bring home a woman from the warehouse. Amanda hopes the woman will be someone for her house-bound son, Andrew, who plays constantly with his collection of glass cocktail stirrers.
All falls apart when Tom's friend Ginny turns out to be a manly type with a girlfriend named Betty. Ginny is also deaf. Tom heads for the movies and doesn't leave his secrets there.
You don't have to be all that familiar with "The Glass Menagerie" to get the parody, but if you are, you'll laugh from beginning to end.
By now you've seen the best. "Nina in the Morning," however, is a very funny play about a narcissistic woman whose face lift has dropped this morning. She has three children, all played by young Mr. Parmelee, who are trying to kill her.
After a lot of straight-faced hilarity, Nina is shot in the shoulder, which is tended to by her servant, Foote, who follows her bidding. And then there is lunch. Miss Pilarczyk is again quite wonderful.
The final two plays are not nearly as funny. "Business Lunch at the Russian Tea Room" is all about a dimly lit agent trying to convince a young playwright to write a play about a priest and rabbi who fall in love.
And finally there is "Wanda's Visit." This play cuts the high-speed humor to a slow walk. A married couple is visited by the husband's crazed high-school sweetheart, whom he hasn't seen for a couple of decades. When she is finally dragged away by some mysterious characters, we are relived.
Director Dan Sekanic, though hampered by a stage with virtually no set, has an obvious flare for Christopher Durang's work. He has taken comedy to fresh new heights and serves the River Street audience to an evening of rare humor.
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