Review:
Same Ol' Same Ol'
SNAP’s ‘Compleat Female Stage Beauty’ is good, good, good
By: David Williams
Issue: March 11, 2009-Omaha City Weekly
“Compleat Female Stage Beauty”
Through March 29
Note to editor … please insert here the standard SNAP! Productions review. I think it is the file labeled “snap v.2,” but I can’t find it in the archives. Just to be sure we’re talking about the same document, it’s the one that opens with “A mascara-splashed, wig-topped Michal Simpson is at it again.”
You can’t find it, either? No problem, I guess. It’ll just give me a chance to flesh out a more detailed recap of the hilariously bawdy “Compleat Female Stage Beauty,” a show that will surely be remembered as one of the smash comedy hits of the season.
Regular theatergoers know that there is a certain sameness to the fare whenever SNAP stages a play over at the Shelterbelt Theatre.
Same old superior performances. Same old smart, thought provoking scripts on themes of acceptance. Same old artful direction.
Simpson, this time in an unruly auburn wig that may well carry a label reading “Comedienne Kathy Griffin Circa 1994,” is sublime as Edward Kynaston, a randy Restoration Era actor who makes a living playing female leads. Kynaston’s trademark role is that of the ill-fated Desdemona in Shakespeare’s “Othello.” The gender-bending actor is soon to learn that his femininity is about to be challenged and he’ll be forced to find his way (gasp!) as a man.
Because his Cockney trollop of a mistress (Jennifer Gilg) wants to act, King Charles II (Denny Maddux) decries that women be, for the first time, allowed on stage. The always-delightful Gilg will put you in stitches when her Roman shield shields the fact that she is stitchless. Did I forget to mention that clever, tongue-tripping iambic pentameter ricochetes off the walls of the tiny stage in this one?
Crowd favorite Connie Lee shines as a hopeless hack whose own take on Desdemona becomes a scandalous sensation, but only because she, ahem, “plays the part with different parts.” Such ribald humor abounds in a double-entendre-laden show where Kynaston refers to his fifth limb as “the guardian at the gates.” And Ashley Spessard is a hoot as both the 17th Century equivalent of a shrieking, giggle-riddled groupie and as an eye patch-wearing tavern owner. It is at her tawdry alehouse that a now fallen, gin-soaked Kynaston lowers himself to perform before the rowdy proles.
Also look for great turns from an all-star cast featuring the likes of Randy Vest, Shannon Jaxies, Matt Allen, Thomas Lowe, David Mainelli and Colleen Dougherty. Vest recently returned to Omaha after a decades-long stint in the Big Apple working as a writer for People magazine and, in a single performance, has cemented a place on my list of “new favorites.” Is it just me, or does he remind you of Leslie Nielsen (“The Naked Gun” franchise) both in his appearance and in his rubber-faced antics?
And the costumes? Again, same ol’ same ol’ from one of the area’s premier venues as Lindsay Pape has whipped up some stunning threads for this lavishly brocaded, plumage-topped, frock-coated period piece.
A laugh-out-loud comedy of manners that is at once sophisticated and accessible, “Compleat Female Stage Beauty” is sure to pack ‘em in at the cracker box of a theater on California Street.
Review:
Isn't 'She' Lovely?
SNAP!’s latest is long
on bawdy laughs
by Warren Francke
The Reader
At the start of Complete Female Stage Beauty, the diarist Samuel Pepys promises that the London stage of the 1660s is “done with Puritan gruel.” Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher then brings a bawdy feast that sets a critic scrambling to down one juicy morsel after another while marveling at the way director M. Michele Phillips draws career performances from a cast led brilliantly by Michal Simpson, Connie Lee and Randy Vest.
When you stop scribbling and laughing long enough to catch your breath, there’s time for regret that you can’t recommend the SNAP! Production to all your friends. I won’t call them prudes, just folks offended by four-letter words and sexual candor.
That doesn’t include the couple sitting next to us who joined Simpson’s Edward Kynaston in singing, “No Balls At All,” whose lyrics refer neither to a lack of festive events or a shortage of rubber spheres. If that sounds like gratuitous ribaldry, let me explain:
Kynaston has been playing women, especially Desdemona, opposite Thomas Betterton (Vest) as Othello, when King Charles II, a giddy delight as played by Denny Maddux, pleases his merry mistress Nell Gwynn by banning men from female roles. The ban, plus Kynaston’s readiness to offend both friends and foes, sends him into a downward spiral that bottoms out with his singing a drunken “No Balls At All” at the Cockpit Tavern.
As his former lover, the Duke of Buckingham (David Mainelli) quests, “We are what we do?” And Kynaston has fallen far until Nell hatches a scheme … more later on the girl who calls herself the king’s “Protestant whore,” when he takes a new Catholic tart.
But you’ll miss much more than bawdy ripostes and naughty songs if you skip this show. If you’re uneasy with a mild male love scene between Simpson and Mainelli, wait for a really unique and touching bed romp between Simpson and Shannon Jaxies, as Maria the young dresser smitten with Kynaston.
And watch, from beginning to end, Hatcher’s employment of Shakespeare’s Othello, the Moor of Venice. At first, we see Simpson bewigged as Desdemona, with the overdrawn gestures of the day, rehearsing the famous death scene with Vest, who practices with the lethal pillow. Frustrated with perfecting the climactic act, he repeats, “Smother, smother, smother.” This paves the way for a powerful finale when the adventurous Nell coaxes Kynaston to coach Mrs. Hughes (Connie Lee), the woman who broke the taboo on female performers and now struggles to play Desdemona.
Earlier, Kynaston failed to convert to male roles, slipping back into a feminine falsetto that set the royal ladies snickering. Now he finds the opportunity to make his comeback and bring Mrs. Hughes, his former rival, along for the ride.
I have seen Simpson play many lead roles on many stages, but none better. The only problem with highlighting Simpson, Lee and Vest is that their director also wins great work from Maddux, Mainelli, Jaxies, Matt Allen as the nasty Lord Sedley, Thomas Lowe as Pepys, and Colleen O’Doherty and Ashley Spessard in multiple roles. Spessard is an impressive presence on stage, but after her evil character in The Crucible and her royal brat here, it would be interesting to see her in an empathetic role.
And then there’s Jennifer Gilg, who like Simpson played many leads at the former Dundee Dinner Theatre. She’s a beaming joy as Nell Gwynn, whether appearing to be naked behind a gold shield, or dropping to her knees to pleasure the king.
It was a night for shouting, “Bravos,” all around, even for the simple set and the period costumes of Lindsay Pape; lots of laughter and cheers.
Compleat Female Stage Beauty runs through March 29 at the SNAP!/Shelterbelt Theatre, 3225 California St., Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 6 p.m (except March 29, 2 p.m.). Tickets are $15, $12 students and seniors. Call 341.2727 or visit snapproductions.com.
12 Mar 2009
Published Saturday, March 7, 2009
Review:
SNAP!'s 'Beauty' has great sense of humor
BY BOB FISCHBACH
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
It's better than the movie.
Can't make that claim every day about community theater. But in the case of SNAP! Productions' "Compleat Female Stage Beauty," it's true, thanks to sharp direction, a top-to-bottom exceptional cast and a wickedly funny, thought-provoking script.
"Beauty" ranks with the season's best comedies. It's different in tone and plot from the 2004 film version starring Billy Crudup and Claire Danes, biting into more than one character's ego. Thursday's preview crowd laughed long, loud and often.
Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher specializes in costume dramas like "The Duchess" and "Casanova." This one is set in 1660s London. King Charles II is new to the throne, and 18 years of Puritan rule have just ended.The script is packed with sexual double-entendres, blunt propositions and sexual romps - not for the prudish.
The story centers on Edward Kynaston (Michal Simpson), a popular actor who specializes in playing women. He faces a sudden shift in fortunes when the king (Denny Maddux) allows women onstage, then outlaws men in female roles. By then, Kynaston has made an enemy of everyone who could help him.
Start with his theater's owner, Betterton (a delightfully glib Randy Vest). Kynaston keeps Betterton from cashing in on the new trend by refusing to act with females.
Two of those turned away are the king's none-too-bright mistress, Nell Gwynn (Jennifer Gilg), and an actress at a rival theater, Mrs. Hughes (Connie Lee), who is copying Kynaston's every overdone gesture. She, in turn, is mistress of a rather foppish but powerful lord.
Kynaston publicly humiliates both the lord (Matt Allen) and his own longtime lover, a duke (David Mainelli). He even drives away costumer Maria (Shannon Jaxies), who's in love with him.
Recording it all in a diary is Samuel Pepys (Thomas Lowe), who serves as a droll narrator.
Director M. Michele Phillips scores not only with Hatcher's sparkling and ribald repartee (Gilg and Maddux are a scream), but also with moments of heartfelt drama. Examples: a steam room encounter between Kynaston and his ex-lover, and a bedroom scene with Maria.
Best of all: a climactic scene in which Kynaston coaches Mrs. Hughes in his signature role of Desdemona, deconstructing his own performance and wangling a way to play her Othello. Simpson and Lee, who shine all night long, rise to new heights in this sequence, which underscores the play's theme about finding and embracing your true self as you roll with life's punches.
Projected subtitles, period music and costumes by Lindsay Pape add polish and flair.
"Theater people don't go to plays to have fun," Kynaston carps at one point. "We go to see what went wrong."
Not much wrong here, but plenty of bawdy fun.
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