Hilarious, inventive, joyous,
imaginative, brilliant, a tour de force, a smash hit.
That is a decent collection of
adjectives to describe the production of The Front Page directed by Graham
Abbey at the Stratford Festival.
The Front Page by Ben
Hecht and Charles MacArthur premiered exactly 91 years ago in New York and has
been produced regularly ever since. It has been made into several films and it
is a classic in its genre provided you can decide in which pigeon hole it
belongs. Let us agree that it is a very funny play.
The Stratford Festival production
is an adaptation by Michael Healy and he changes the sex of one of the main
characters, adds a couple of characters, some political humour, some great
zingers and generally makes it even funnier than the original. The major
contributor to the extraordinary production is without a doubt director Graham
Abbey. The first line of this review applies to his contribution to the
production and it cannot be overestimated.
in The Front Page. Photography by Emily Cooper.
The play deals with a bunch of rough-hewn
newspaper reporters in the Chicago Criminal Court building in 1927 who are covering
the execution of a schmuck who killed a black policeman. The execution
is scheduled for the early morning and the
card-playing, booze-drinking and lying reporters who make up stories when the facts
don’t fit or simply do not exist have no choice but to wait.
The central plot involving the reporters
is Hildy Johnson’s (Ben Carlson) desire to get out of the business and marry Peggy
(Amanda Sargisson). His boss, Mrs. Burns (Maev Beaty) does not want him to
leave because there is a great story to be covered and he is a damn good
reporter. She will use her wiles, ethical or not, to prevent the marriage.
Healy’s change is to make Mrs. Burns inheritor of the paper from her husband
Walter Burns, the original character in the play.
This is Chicago in the 1920’s and
there is ample corruption to uncover. The Mayor is up for reelection and he
wants the execution to proceed because it will guarantee him votes. The
execution of a white killer of a black cop is a surefire vote getter of the
blacks. The Sheriff (Mike Shara) is an idiot and a corrupt one at that.
Director Graham Abbey has an
outstanding cast but he deserves credit for the overall success of the
production. He handles every scene, every situation and every character carefully,
attentively and imaginatively to bring out all the humour and laughter that is
available. A minor character like Woodenshoes Eichorn (Josue Laboucane) who
believes he can tell the character of people by the shape of their heads does
not fail to get a good laugh at every appearance. Laboucane goes a long away
with a minor role.
Mike Shara as the Sheriff becomes
a comic genius with his verbal delivery, his physical actions and his reactions.
This may well be Shara’s best performance. The same may be said of Juan Chioran
as the Mayor. Rosemary Dunsmore as Mrs. Grant is a relatively minor character
but she and Abbey make sure she is a hilarious one. Ditto for Farhang Ghajar as
the messenger Irving Pincus.
The major characters receive the
same attention and produce the same results. Ben Carlson is masterful actor and
hilarious as Hildy Johnson, Maev Beaty may be a bit overdone as Mrs. Burns but
in the buildup of laughter and energy, she is a major contributor.
The large cast makes it difficult
to compliment all of them but suffice to say that they do marvelous work
including a natural comic like Randy Hughson as Fife and Michael Spencer-Davis
as the eccentric fool Bensinger.
The set by Lorenzo Savoini
consists of a large, shabby office with desks, chairs and telephones for the
colourful reporters. It is perfect for the job.
_________________
The Front Page by
Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, adapted by Michael Healy, opened on August 15 and
will play in repertory until October 25, 2019 at the Festival Theatre,
Stratford, Ontario. www.stratfordfestival.ca
James Karas is the
Senior Editor – Culture of The Greek Press. www.greekpess.ca
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