January 17, 2011
Beacon Journal staff writer
Many people would agree that trying to find the right mate is one hairy proposition.
Playwright Rich Orloff expands on the many humorous possibilities this quest for romance may take in his two-person comedy Romantic Fools, starring Shani Ferry and Keith Stevens at Actors’ Summit in downtown Akron. That includes everything from a caveman showing up at a woman’s door for a blind date to a Stepford husband driving his wife crazy with his perfection.
Actors’ Summit presents 10 of the play’s original 12 scenes, each a sketch comedy in its own right. Oberlin graduate Orloff also wrote Big Guys, a comedic riff on unscrupulous business executives that Actors’ Summit produced in 2009.
The theater is using its production of Romantic Fools as an opportunity to give some young directors experience. Directing is shared by co-artistic director Neil Thackaberry and Peter Voinovich, Daniel Taylor and Shawn Galligan.
The comedy’s leading lady and man bring to life the many outlandish mutations love may take with ease and humor, with both holding the stage for nearly two hours.
This comedy has a men-are-from-Mars-women-are-from-Venus core that receives a bit of an edgy treatment. That includes numerous references to foreplay, sex and body parts that actually add up to a sweet brand of humor when heard in context.
It’s a relationship laugh fest for grown-ups, given some of the play’s strong language and sexual references.
The play succeeds in blowing up all of our neuroses about dating to over-the-top proportions.
Ferry’s a tiny dynamo as a hot-cold dating interest who gives new meaning to sending a man mixed signals.
Or how about the bar scene where the woman doesn’t accept a drink because her mind jumps to the heartache, chaos and divorce that will ensue if she dares to become involved? That relationship’s spent before it’s started.
Voinovich directs one of the funniest scenes in the play, when an unlikely aphrodisiac leads to a tryst behind a couch that has the couple flinging various items of clothing and undergarments toward the audience.
Stevens, who’s the male love interest for most of the play, also takes a turn as an over-the-top wedding planner with really bad quips. But his finest moment comes when his bachelor Andrew dives into a huge pasta bowl in search of an engagement ring.
The play’s battles of the sexes turn into the perfect visual power struggle when the man and woman arm-wrestle atop a bar while flinging insults at each other. Accomplished comedic actors Ferry and Stevens layer insult upon insult with perfect alacrity.
But later, as their characters pretend to get into a knock-down fight during some prenuptial jitters, they create a feeling of genuine love and affection.
Sure, Orloff’s material contains plenty of male-female stereotypes. But it’s the truths we see in these tales’ extremes that make us laugh.
Details
Comedy: Romantic Fools
When: Through Jan. 30, 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays
Where: Actors’ Summit, Greystone Hall, 103 S. High St., Akron
Onstage: Shani Ferry and Keith Stevens
Offstage: Rich Orloff, playwright; Neil Thackaberry, Shawn Galligan, Daniel Taylor and Peter Voinovich, directors; Amanda Lin Boyd, stage manager; MaryJo Alexander, costumes/props; Kevin Rutan, lighting; Taylor and Voinovich, sound
Tickets: $27-$30; senior citizens $24 Thursdays and Sundays; students, $7. Additional dinner option $25 each or $10 for children 12 and under, through this Sunday. Dinner begins at 6 p.m. before evening performances, or after matinee performances
Information: 330-374-7568 or http://www.actorssummit.org
Arts writer Kerry Clawson may be reached at 330-996-3527 or kclawson@thebeaconjournal.com.
