When you
see Ray Cooney's name on a script you can
be fairly certain of what you will be experiencing.
He is called by some the "master of British
farce." He characterizes the average
working-class Brit as selfish, stupid and
-- because of his selfishness and stupidity
-- befuddled. His sets require many doors
so that the cast members, in their befuddlement,
can race in and out of them, mindlessly attempting
to avoid the result of their selfishness and
stupidity. Among his canon you will find "Run
for Your Wife" and its sequel "Caught
in the Net." "Funny Money,"
now being presented by Curtain Call Theatre,
is a perfect example of Cooney's apparent
world view.
The premise is that an average Joe, Henry
Perkins, ably played by Ted Zeltner, finds
a fortune in a briefcase that he mistakenly
brings home. He decides that he and his wife
Jean (Linda Mizeur) must take the money and
go to Barcelona to live.
The trouble is, it's his birthday and they
have guests coming for dinner. Henry calls
for a taxi to take them to the airport and
Jean begins a night of slugging back brandy
after brandy. Vic Johnson (Dan Kelly) and
his wife Betty (Monica Cangero) arrive to
find the couple in a stew.
It isn't long before the taxi driver (David
Edward Campbell) comes in for the first time
to announce that he is waiting for the Perkinses
and that the meter is running. Finally, an
inspector from Scotland Yard (Howie Schaffer)
makes an appearance carrying Henry's real
briefcase that contains not a fortune but
half a cheese and chutney sandwich. He has
alarming news.
In
and Out
During the course of this 82-minute play,
with a 15-minute intermission, the audience
is treated to lots and lots of running in
and out of doors, briefcases being switched
and then switched back, and necessarily mistaken
identities.
The cast plays the chaos deftly. Zeltner is
remarkable for his quick memory and handles
any glitches about who ends up being who with
humorous equanimity. The audience was with
him all the way. Mizeur, as his ultimately
sloshed wife, never overplays her inebriation.
She displays a subtlety of timing as she progresses
from a silent stupor to a rollicking drunkenness.
Cangero is arch and bright as Betty, making
a certain sense out of every crazy situation,
and Kelly, always a reliable actor, gives
a solid performance. Schaffer and Campbell
round out the cast capably with their multiple
entrances and exits.
Director Steve Fletcher moves the actors wisely
and with fluid confidence about the set that
is, by the way, mercifully free of shudders
as the doors open and slam shut. Bless the
talented scenic designer William E. Fritz
for that. Lori Barringer, sound designer and
stage manager, makes an onstage telephone
ring -- joyously -- on stage.
