Last seen at the Wetumpka Depot ten years ago, Marc Camoletti's outrageous French farce Boeing-Boeing is currently entertaining audiences at the Way Off Broadway Theatre in Prattville. The English translation by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans is replete with clever dialogue, archetypal characters, comic-formulaic plot devices, and physical challenges that make for an engaging evening as director Melissa Strickland guides her ensemble of six actors for two-and-a-half hours through the play's three acts.
It's the 1960s, so Ms. Strickland shows us a very "mod" set with seven doors to accommodate the many quick escapes that farce requires, and creates a period atmosphere with a soundtrack from the '60s. And the costumes are both period-appropriate while deftly showing the characters' professions.
Here's the set-up: Bernard [Josh Carples] lives in an up to date Paris apartment, where his three "finances" -- each of them stewardesses for TWA, Alitalia, and Lufthansa airlines -- stay with him while they are in between flights; none of them knows about the others, and Bernard keeps them separate through his mathematical calculations of their individual schedules. -- As you might imagine, there will be complications for this Lothario. [Keep in mind that 21st Century communications didn't exist, so they relied on land-line telephones, etc.]
Each of the women has a distinct personality [matter of fact American Gloria: Ashlee Lassiter; lusty Italian Gabriella: Jordon Perry, strong-willed German Gretchen: Laela Bunn], challenging Bernard to shift gears with each one, and challenging his housekeeper Berthe [Janie Allred] to prepare meals to suit them, as well as to be complicit in Bernard's behavior and rescue him from impending disaster.
When Bernard's old naive friend Robert [Isaac Garrison] shows up out of the blue, Bernard invites him to stay while he gets settled in Paris. Though Robert is initially shocked, befuddled, and intrigued with Bernard's lifestyle, he eventually is seduced by the hedonistic arrangement.
No spoilers about the specific outcome [it's a comedy, so everyone's happy by the conclusion], but the fun of the production is in following the assorted plot twists, personality developments, broad physical humor, over-the-top national accents, and various meltdowns when situations get out of hand.
