"What the Butler Saw" is just what the doctor ordered for this theater season: a good reason to laugh out loud.
Written by English playwright Joe Orton in 1967, this latest Key City Public Theatre production holds a funhouse mirror up to the psychiatric profession and invites the audience to come inside to witness everything a British sex farce is cracked up to be.
The antics begin when Dr. Prentice (Jay Page), a psychiatrist, uses a job interview with an aspiring secretary, Geraldine Barclay (Rebecca May), as a seduction session and convinces her to undress. Enter his nymphomaniac wife, Mrs. Prentice (Denise Fleener), who lost her dress after an evening of frolicking at a nearby hotel. Hot on her heels is Nicholas Beckett (Rob Lovato), a hotel bellhop who is blackmailing her with photos. When the (mostly) unclad Mrs. Prentice catches Mr. Prentice with Barclay's dress, he reluctantly hands it over to his wife for cover-up.
Entering next is Dr. Rance (Peter Wiant), a psychiatrist employed by the British government, who has arrived for a routine inspection. Rance mistakenly believes that Barclay is Prentice's patient and has her committed. After she fails to return from the interview, Barclay is reported missing and Sergeant Match (Sam Cavallaro) shows up to investigate.
As the play builds, everything gets more fantastically complicated and tangled with absurdity, punctuated with mad-dash exits and entrances, dropped trousers and cross-dressing, until Mrs. Prentice observes that "the world is full of naked men running in all directions!"
This ensemble cast directed by David Hundhausen brings a great mix of acting skills. When Page plays the straight man off of Wiant's crazed psychiatric antennae, it is "lunatics running the asylum" personified. Fleener is a brave, brave woman for taking on the aisle stairs in those heels as her character becomes more and more believably inebriated, and each time Rebecca May pokes her head out from behind the curtain is cause for a giggle. Plumped-up Sam Cavallaro's pratfalls are magnificent, while newcomer Rob Lovato plays his bellhop character with the aplomb of a seasoned actor. No one upstaged the others, and everyone came out on top - just the way it should be in a show like this.
Now think of a play as a banana split, with the actors, directing and script being the ice cream and banana. Although delicious, still rather plain, wouldn't you say? What makes "Butler" the delightful dessert that it is are the scrumptious toppings of the stage set, costumes, hair and makeup designed by Kevin Coker, Erin McNamara and Angela Agnew, respectively. The period orange, green and brown circle motif is brilliantly deployed; the costumes are a delicious riot of color, and the hairstyles (especially Wiant's) couldn't be any more inspired. Lighting designed by Albert Mendez and a set constructed and painted by Adam Matthew, C.J. Kiefer, Jacob Gearlach, David Murphy and Jesse Wiegel finish off the Tim Burton-meets-"Laugh-In" effect. Finally, with Jefferson Community School theater intern Freeman Luomo acting as stage manager, backed up by Sarah Peters, Aaron Tyler and Jasmine McNamara, this small but very talented army of designers and volunteers could very well be KCPT's backstage dream team.
You'd be crazy to miss "What the Butler Saw," the third mainstage production of the 2009 season for KCPT, sponsored by Sirens Pub. Tickets - $15 general admission and $10 students - are available at Quimper Sound, 230 Taylor, or by calling 385-2454 with a credit card. For the pay-what-you-wish performance on Thursday, July 2, advance tickets are available at full price and donations are accepted at the door for the remaining seats on a first-come, first-served basis.
Key City Playhouse is located at 419 Washington St. Curtain times are Thursdays and Sundays at 7 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Informal "AfterWords" discussions with members of the cast and artistic staff follow all Thursday performances.
For more about the show or schedule, call the KCPT show info line at 385-7396 or visit keycitypublictheatre.org.
