Earlier than ending this interminable week with an evening on the theater, I’d have scoffed on the notion of repeating any of it. Although as soon as extra rid of Daylight Financial savings, for many people the previous few days have felt longer than ever. Certainly, few issues may make me comply with get up tomorrow to a different Election Week. And but, if time journey was the one method to catch Signature Theatre’s riotous new manufacturing of A Humorous Factor Occurred on the Approach to the Discussion board once more, I must rethink. In spite of everything, a tragedy tomorrow is value a comedy tonight.
In a collaboration that has confirmed equally profitable and auspicious to the way forward for theater within the DMV since its inception, Creative Director Matthew Gardiner and Managing Director Maggie Boland return to champion a contemporary revival of Sondheim’s zaniest musical farce. With a powerhouse forged, a playful engagement with Shevelove and Gelbart’s guide, and manufacturing design to dazzle, Signature’s Discussion board is nothing wanting a spectacle.
For the uninitiated, a great pitch — not straight from Sondheim, however absolutely in his spirit — isn’t removed from “The Flintstones Take Rome.” In a travertine nook within the capital of the Roman Empire, three households have spent their days, each on goal and by probability, largely avoiding each other. When the henpecked senator Senex (Christopher Bloch) accompanies his quarrelsome spouse Domina (Tracy Lynn Olivera) to go to her mom within the nation, their lovestruck son Hero (Zachary Keller) guarantees to free his slave Pseudolus (Erin Weaver) in return for Philia (Kuhoo Verma), the lady of his desires. The difficulty? Effectively, that’s the place the farce is available in. A winsome courtesan within the neighboring home of Marcus Lycus (Lawrence Redmond), Philia has already been promised to the swaggering braggart Captain Miles Gloriosus (Cameron Loyal). In a madcap succession of plots hatched, foiled, mistaken, and reworked, order shortly devolves into pandemonium as Pseudolus leads this hapless ensemble into chaos.
Lawrence Redmond (Marcus Lycus), Mike Millan (Hysterium), Christopher Bloch (Senex), and Erin Weaver (Pseudolus) in ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.’ Photograph by Daniel Rader.
Staging a farce — not to mention adapting one to our present second — is not any easy endeavor, however Signature’s forged does so with ease. Neglect laughs per minute; this forged will get amusing in for each breath they take — and the pauses in between. Balancing humor on equal elements ardent dedication and blithe self-awareness, Discussion board is a cyclone within the making, even because it’s a breeze to look at. Certainly, this isn’t a present for the weak of craft, however it’s clear: these are masters of theirs. With the trusting comradery of a sketch present and the breezy banter of a stand-up set, this forged shines with confidence.
The enjoyment with which the Signature gamers embody their roles could be enviable if it wasn’t so infectious. Signature veteran Erin Weaver is a powerhouse as Prologus and Pseudolus, in some ways the peppy coxswain steering the present. She is joined by different staple gamers at Signature together with the hilarious duo of Christopher Bloch and Tracy Lynn Olivera. Bloch performs Senex as a hapless form of coward somewhat than a sympathetic lemon, whereas Olivera embraces Domina’s playful cattiness. Collectively, they preserve all of the enjoyable and elide the drained misogyny of the script. Zachary Keller and Kuhoo Verma likewise reinvent Hero and Philia’s dynamic, leaning closely into the bemusements and melodramas of pet love with uninhibited extra. Keller’s ditzy Hero flops across the stage, transported by longing, whereas Verma performs up the irony of Philia’s virginal courtesanship to slapstick proportions. Collectively or aside, these characters shine of their physicality, verbal embodiments, and histrionics.
Cameron Loyal’s blustering Miles Gloriosus is aware of a factor or two about histrionics, too! An idol to his troopers (and to himself), Miles struts and flexes and peacocks across the stage. Loyal performs this to riotous impact, indulging Miles in any consideration he can appeal to. Equally self-involved, Lawrence Redmond’s Marcus Lycus is the right coward. Jumpy and covetous, Lycus dumps his issues on any passerby, then runs off to blackmail a senator. A purveyor of Rome’s best courtesans and a good quantity of miscommunication, Redmond’s Lycus entertains at the same time as he flees the stage.
Such beautiful courtesans mustn’t go unmentioned both. As an ensemble of Rome’s best beauties, Lycus’ retinue additionally has formidable expertise. From Tintinabula’s noisy seductions (Kaylee Olson) to Panacea’s neurotic fugues (Emily Steinhardt) and from Vibrata’s feral ramblings (Sherri L. Edelen) to Gymnasia’s punishing energy play (Nolan Montgomery), the home of Marcus Lycus has one thing for everybody.
The forged of ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.’ Photograph by Daniel Rader.
As ensembles go, A Humorous Factor Occurred on the Approach to the Discussion board boasts a number of, however a lot of its ancillary assist comes from a retinue of solely three actors: the Proteans. Embodying all walks of Roman life from slaves to legionaries to eunuchs to sailors, Ryan Sellers, Harrison Smith, and Hank von Kolnitz enter the stage with a brand new schtick each time. With the dedication and richness of their characters, every deserves their very own one-man present, or at the least a confessional scene.
An ensemble all of his personal, Mike Millan’s Hysterium rounds out this fabulous forged with the anxious, apprehensive humor of a Shakespearean idiot. Irreverent and performative, Millan performs Hysterium by means of the fourth wall and straight into our hearts. If there ever was trigger for Sondheim to return, it’s to put in writing Millan a Hysterium sequel.
After all, such a forged can solely earn such respect by means of the work of an expertly executed technical imaginative and prescient. Rome is delivered to life by Erik Teague’s visionary costume design, which evokes a extra refined tackle the archetypal Roman featured in Monty Python and Blackadder. (Extra from Teague about his course of crafting such meticulous work may be discovered by means of an Inside Signature interview accessible right here.) Jimmy Stubbs’ set is strategic in design, compact but expansive by means of its versatility. Characters discover methods to occupy each nook and cranny, fleeing down alleyways, climbing onto balconies, and peeking by means of home windows. Forged in deep shadows by Jason Lyons’ skilled lighting design, Stubbs’ set additionally has outstanding dimension for its measurement.
Transportive in efficiency and design, Signature Theater’s manufacturing of A Humorous Factor Occurred on the Approach to the Discussion board carries on the theater’s custom of staging Sondheim’s work to nice success, and even higher enjoyment. Within the phrases of Pseudolus, “The theatre is a temple, and we are here to worship the gods of comedy and tragedy.” Allow us to rejoice that we could escape into the previous when the latter is all too true to life.
Operating Time: Two hours and half-hour, together with one 15-minute intermission.
A Humorous Factor Occurred on the Approach to the Discussion board performs by means of January 12, 2025, within the MAX Theatre at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA. For tickets ($40–$126) name (703) 820-9771 or buy on-line. Details about ticket reductions is on the market right here.
This system for A Humorous Factor Occurred on the Approach to the Discussion board is on-line right here.
Closed captions can be found by way of the GalaPro app.
COVID Security: Masks are elective within the foyer and different public areas of the constructing besides that face masks are required contained in the efficiency areas on November 19 at 7:30 PM, December 1 at 2 PM, and January 3 at 8 PM. Signature’s COVID Security Measures may be discovered right here.
A Humorous Factor Occurred on the Approach to the ForumBook by Burt Shevelove & Larry GelbartMusic & Lyrics by Stephen SondheimMusic Course by Jon KalbfleischDirected & Choreographed by Matthew Gardiner
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