"The School for Wives" Teaches a Lesson in Laughter at Lantern Theatre Company

Theater: Lantern Theatre

Show Title: The School for Wives

Opened: November 9, 2007

Seen: November 14, 2007

Reviewer: Amy Lewis

Submitted: November 15, 2007

What makes School for Wives so invigorating to watch is that its excellence is clearly achieved through a collaborative effort. The cast is so unfalteringly committed to wringing every comic drop out of their time on stage that there is not a moment that falls short of unadulterated, unabashed entertainment.

 

Greg Wood as Arnolphe, an aging bachelor who thinks he’s figured out how to marry the perfect woman (i.e. keep her uneducated, isolated and submissive) is sensational.   Moving from acerbic, cerebral comedy to pratfalls and slapstick with extraordinary mastery, Wood is so deliciously over the top that it is impossible not to laugh.

 

Lee Ann Etzold manages to steal every scene she is in despite speaking relatively few words. Her remarkable face seems to convey entire monologues with a single eyebrow raise and she is not afraid to embrace the silliness that makes this production such a joy to watch. Joshua L. Browns works wonderfully beside her as well, playing a fool with side-splitting aplomb.

 

Perhaps the biggest surprises of the evening come from Joanna Liao and Luigi Sottile, who, as the lovers of the play, should be doomed to boring sincerity. However, Liao uses her exotic beauty to stunning effect, managing to be a believable object of affection and hilarious, vacuous bubble simultaneously. Adding depth to her character, though, Liao also utilizes her strong voice to prove that packages can be deceiving.

 

Luigi Sottile, which his Romanesque features and leading man charms defies the role of stereotypical, tortured lover and has a ball mocking the expectations one might have based upon his looks. His self-deprecating goofiness is as refreshing to watch as it is hilarious.

 

Adding to the fun is Kathryn Nocero MacMillan’s direction, which is so fearless and astute, that it’s entertaining just to imagine what the rehearsal process must have been like, as each line and movement seems to be the result of constant experimentation and brave choices. The scenic design by Nick Embree also contributes to the high-energy fun with its quirky shapes, bold colors and asymmetric windows. Embree’s set is evocative of the time period and nation in which it was written whilst also connotative of the whimsical comedy to come, putting the final puzzle piece in place.

 

For a night of non-stop, all-out laughter, don’t miss School for Wives at Lantern Theatre Company. Farce is rarely done well, but when it is, one is reminded of why it was ever popular in the first place. Consider this a master class in farcical perfection.