Marple Newtown Players present Plaza Suite

The Marple Newtown Players presents Neil Simon's Plaza Suite, Nov. 30, Dec. 1, 7, 8, 14, and 15, 2007 at 8:00PM with a Dec 9, 2007 matinee at 3:00PM. Directed by Barry Childress.

  

Comedy is a funny thing – I mean “funny peculiar.” The essence of comedy seems to be the sudden shift of point of view, the incongruence of the response to the stimulus. Example: Man: Does your dog bite? Other Man holding leash: No. Man: [pets dog] Ow. He bit me. I thought you said he didn’t bite! Other man: That’s not my dog.

 

It’s the sudden unexpected response that gets us. No slapstick, no slipping on the banana peel, no thoughtful analysis of the cleverness of the statement – just a sudden slap to the back of the head: “I didn’t think of that.”

 

Such comedy, delivered in a subtle (or sometimes not so subtle) way is the basis of sketch comedy. You set up a situation that is ludicrous, tense, and full of problems. Add characters seeing the world from different viewpoints. Let them talk. Result? Sketch comedy. For those of us who are old enough to remember “Your Show of Shows” you remember the style. For those too young, think “M*A*S*H” or “Seinfeld.”

 

“Your Show of Shows” pioneered the art form on TV with such writers as Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart, and Neil Simon, working under Mel Tonkin.  And each of them was successful working on his own after “Your Show of Shows.”

 

Neil Simon was the most successful at the subtle comedy sketch form and took it to Broadway, the movies, and books. We are blessed with one of his early works, “Plaza Suite,” presented as an early Christmas present by the Marple Newtown Players. It is fun and funny.

 

“Plaza Suite” is a set of three comedy sketches. They are tied together by the fact that they all take place in suite 719 of the New York Plaza Hotel. All three settings make sense at the Plaza, but the first sketch, the longest, gives us the reason why it had to be the Plaza. In the first sketch we find a giddy wife, bent on rekindling her marriage of 23 or 24 years (take your pick) into romance with her workaholic husband. They have become the Bickersons, each finding something wrong with what the other is doing or saying, but in a civil way. This tension results in “very funny,” indeed. And at the end, the situation unravels.

 

The second sketch brings a man of the world on the make with his high school sweetheart (whom he hasn’t seen in 17 years) and who is now a married housewife with three children. She has, however, kept up with his famous doings, and she is nervous being in a hotel room with a “famous Hollywood producer.” The tension is high. And at the end, the situation unravels.

 

The third sketch finds a mother and father ready to go to their daughter’s wedding, ready to go downstairs for the ceremony at the Plaza, and the daughter locked in the suite’s bathroom, refusing to come out. The father can quote you the cost of every item of the wedding party and is, naturally, distraught. The mother can’t understand her daughter. The tension is high. Being the last act, the situation doesn’t unravel, and we finally have a more stable outcome.

 

This is great stuff. The players at MNP have followed the course set by director Barry Childress and don’t overplay or dominate the material. They carry it, and it carries them. Set on a stage that suggests the luxury of the Plaza (the budget doesn’t allow for orchids in every room), the three acts leave you wanting a fourth. We must remain content with the three we have. The comedy is direct and pointed. There are no fireworks, no obscenities, no acrobatic displays. The comedy takes place in your head, where you get to take it home with you. At times it even made ME laugh out loud (or as today’s internet people would put it, “lol”).

 

The players, several of whom are first timers at a Marple Newtown Players production, are uniform in performance. Each provided the character as it needed to be, without demanding that you concentrate on them. The bellboy (David Welsh) was the ultimate bellboy, complete with funny hat (dig that hat!). The Nashes (Sam Barrett and Rick Goldstein) were the long-married couple, easy with one another even when quarreling. The secretary (Kathy Quinn) was the efficient office drone.

 

The Hollywood man on the make (Bill Murray) was a perfect low key producer who knows who he is – the big man, but playing humble. Housewife Muriel (Dana Courtine) was, in turn,  perfectly nervous, direct, cautious, or brassy as needed.

 

As mother and father of the reluctant bride, Norma (Sharon Harris) and Roy (Joe Fortunato) were exactly right. Even the “walk throughs” waiter/groom (Tim O’Malley) and bride (Erin Childress) walked through in character. We’ve all had waiters like that and the bride was just what she would be after all the fuss.

 

So, open this early Christmas gift. Renew your memories. Get away from the inanities of the TV. Go see “Plaza Suite” for some classic comedy that only Neil Simon (okay, maybe also Woody Allen) can give you, done up right.

 

Trivia spoiler: There are no ledges connecting rooms on the Plaza Hotel in New York.