StageQ’s press release for Dutch Love insists that the
production is “hilarious.” That immediately puts a critic on her
guard, but Dutch Love (running through April 29 at the
Bartell Theater) is actually quite funny, even hilarious at
times. The script by Claudia Allen is zingy and fresh, and the
cast is appealing.
Leonora is the supervisor at a college cafeteria who has put her
own happiness on hold. Her husband, Hal, is a college professor
specializing in Dickens and persnickety behavior. For most of
their 20-year marriage, Hal has been having affairs with men,
including the mischievous Andrei. Leonora meets up with Dutch, a
lesbian mechanic, and begins her own affair that suddenly shakes
up the marriage. When Andrei brings Dutch to Easter dinner, she
becomes smitten with Cass, Hal and Leonora’s daughter. The
family must sort through relationships, passion and the meaning
of happiness.
The production, which is deftly directed by Tara Ayres,
has a breezy first act but is a bit sluggish in the second. Tim Spires’ devilish performance as Andrei is responsible
for much of the show’s hilarity. Kelly Kiorpes is
effervescent as Cass, the young entomology student who is in the
tricky position of being involved with the same lover as her
mother. There is something to like about everybody in the cast,
although poor Pam Adams as Leonora is stuck in a bland
Blythe Danner mom/wife role.
Attendance was sparse on opening night, and I’m hoping more
people will find their way to this comedy. They will be rewarded
with a good entertainment value for their relatively low ticket
price, and it would be a shame if those wicked lines are
delivered to empty seats.
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