I don’t believe it! There’s an American farce!? And it’s here in Baltimore!?!? With a first-time director and at Artistic Synergy of Baltimore!? I don’t believe it! Well, believe it! Because Whose Wives Are The Anyway? an American farce written by Michael Parker is here for a two-weekend engagement with Artistic Synergy and its being directed by first-time-director Cory Bauer. It’s an antics-loaded, shenanigans-laced nonsense show that will certain have you chuckling as the characters trip over one another, fall into each other, and general fly through doors (every good farce has at least four doors!) all throughout the performance.
The set itself is quite impressive considering the limitations of the basement space of Prince of Peace, where Artistic Synergy has its residency. Designers Jim Morgan and Kathy Case have conceived and constructed (along with assistance from the cast and crew) a believable cross-sectional interior of two adjoining hotel— well, single rooms. And there’s four different doors! Plus a bonus fifth swinging door that connects the two rooms. The room interiors themselves are quite inviting (though watch out for those tricksy paintings!) and furnished appropriately. There’s even some good attention to detail at the front-reception area of the stage (the show takes place inside the Oakfield Golf & Country Club) complete with signage and a martini glass filled with golf balls.
A farce can be a finnicky thing and deeply depends on a whole host of things to be a smashing success. All things considered, Whose Wives Are They Anyway? is fairly solid with a handful of missed opportunities and a few strange choices, but ultimately some very strong performances and very funny moments that are delivered with comic brilliance. Melissa Broy Fortson, as the show’s Lighting and Sound Designer, has quite a few clever things up her sleeve with a missed opportunity here and there. There’s a hysterical scene where her character (as Fortson doubles up as Mrs. Carlson, the club manager) ends up under one of the beds and every time she pokes her head out in true farcical fashion, a little “under bed” light illuminates her face. It would be nice for both of the hotel rooms to have separate lighting (though this may be a shortcoming of the space’s overall lighting capabilities and not necessarily Fortson’s lack of design.) The one thing the show desperately does need, however, is sound effects. There is one lone effect— a wretched and almost ear-busting phone sound— that does ring all over the place (which is part of the show’s humor as the script calls for the phones to be all sorts of out of order and on the blink)— but at times…rings when it isn’t supposed to, rings too long or not long enough etc.
But the need for sound comes during some of the more “chase-driven” moments of heightened physical activity. Because of the structure of the set and play-space overall— there actors spend a bit more time moving around and this would be fine if there was just a hint of music (zany Benny-Hill style music or even corny lobby-elevator music) to cover some of that movement.
Choosing to tackle a farce as his directorial debut, Cory Bauer is brave and for the most part holds his own against the demands of such a succinctly timed production. There are some moments— particularly the dialogue exchanges on the telephones in the four corners of the set— where the pacing of text delivery lags. Everything in a farce falls to timing and if the timing is off— it just pulls from the humor. There are other moments, the like physical chaos of just who is who at the top of act two, that could be tighter as well. But overall, the show’s generalized tempo moves swift (it comes in at exactly two hours with a decent-length intermission.) Bauer makes fine use of the doors, some of the entrances and exits could use a bit more of a snap or a pop to them, but ultimately the show reads as high-humor with a good slap of hilarity as the confusion unravels into chaos. And Bauer has a solid cast on his hands as well.
The aforementioned Melissa Broy Fortson delivers an increasingly bombastic performance as the club’s manager, Mrs. Carlson, who blows into full explosive mode when she starts blasting out whoever is on the other end of the phone in the second act. Her body language and facial expressions are perfect for this type of comedy and she really knows how to ham it up when one of the other characters proclaims that she would be perfect for a makeup commercial. When she starts posing behind the reception counter it’s a real hilarious scream.
You get a beautifully shrill and comic squealing whine-n-cry out of Britt Martin, who plays Laura Baker. And you get an equally sassy and determined mouthy performance out of Jessie Duggan, who plays Karly McGachen. While these two characters don’t arrive until near the very end of the first act, Martin and Duggan make up for lost time with their larger-than-life portrayals of these characters, particularly when it comes to Duggan’s mouthiness and Martin’s facial expressions. The pair get caught up in the shenanigans quickly enough and get rolled along in the show’s overall sense of comic chaos.
The two ding-dongs that get the ball rolling are David McGachen (Michael Safko) and John Baker (Bryan Brown). And all they wanted to do was go away for the weekend to play golf! Safko has a keen understanding of comic timing and has the best ‘jump’ when it comes to leaping overtop of another character conversationally; this is a critical component of a successful farce and Safko has it. Bryan Brown, as a character who ends up trying to be a bunch of different people all while just being the one person and not mixing anyone up, has a superb sense of deadpan delivery, especially when it comes to his most-repeated line of— “Oh no.” The pair play well off of one another, particularly as they bed-hop, room-hop, and couch-hop!? Keep your eyes out for Brown’s character(s) who just keep popping up in all sorts of places.
With a perfectly whiny and hilarious vocal affectation, the character of Wilson has a surprisingly refreshing life blown into him by Jim Morgan. A character whose sole existence is to exacerbate the misunderstandings going on during this play, Morgan really enjoys himself on stage as the chaos unfolds all around him and occasionally because of him. With a litany of complaints stacking higher than the Eifel Tower, Morgan portrayal of Wilson will have you chuckling from the first time you meet him on stage through to the shocking conclusion. He’s a great character asset to this performance.
Pristine, reserved, and spotless, just like the reputation of the club for which she works, the character of Tina (Samantha Murray) is so rigidly polished it borders on Stepford. Right up until the character finds herself coerced into the show’s shenanigans by happenstance. Oh and of course by way of champagne. What’s absolutely hilarious and fantastic about Murray’s performance is the total transformation from her buttoned-up, hesitant, and totally straight-laced character to the wild, floral-lingerie-wearing, brassy and pushy drunk-character she becomes. Murray has an exacting handle on how to portray drunk without it impeding her textual delivery or comic timing and really brings a bunch of extra delightful sight-gags to the show during those drunk moments.
D.L. Hutchinson (Sarah O’Hara) will put your teeth on edge. Picture every toxic, overly-nosey, totally intrusive boss you’ve ever had, add a layer of Stepford-calm-terror to that, and you’ve got O’Hara’s character in spades. Part of the delightful confusion is over the assumption that O’Hara’s character is either one gender or another (don’t want to give away too many spoilers here.) O’Hara has this completely zoned-in laser-focus of her character down to a fine science; everything from her textual delivery to her fretting facial expressions and her shudder-worthy “positivity gestures” will have you laughing. She’s almost too perfect in the role and given that it’s her character that sets the snowball rolling down the proverbial hill, the production has a most valuable player in O’Hara.
Don’t answer the phone! Don’t take any noses on any little green men! And whatever you do— don’t go to room 13! Or 11! But do go see Whose Wives Are They Anyway? because it’s a very cute farce with a lot of really strong comic moments and solid performances and will make you chuckle.
Running Time: 2 hours with one intermission
Whose Wives Are They Anyway? plays through February 2, 2023 at Artistic Synergy of Baltimore— 8212 Philadelphia Road in Rosedale, MD. Tickets are available at the door or in advance online.
