Shakespeare in Hollywood
Reviewed September 12
Running time 2 hours 15 minutes
Potomac Stages Pick


Comedy abounds early this season. The Shakespeare Theatre is doing eighteenth century comedy (The Rivals), Catalyst is doing updated eighteenth century comedy (Turcaret), Signature is doing updated twentieth century comedy (Twentieth Century), Round House is doing touching comedy (The Drawer Boy), and Woolly (of course) is doing offbeat comedy (The Mineola Twins). Now Arena opens the season of laughs with, well ... laughs. And there are plenty of them in Ken Ludwig’s new play. Ludwig blends Shakespeare’s romantic comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream with his own imagining of the world of Hollywood in the heyday of romantic comedy to create a highly entertaining fusion of farce and nostalgia.

Storyline: Warner Brothers is about to film Shakespeare’s comedy of fairies and sprites interacting with mortals when two of the stars of the film (Victor Jory and Mickey Rooney) are temporarily unavailable. Shakespeare’s own characters, Oberon and Puck, appear through their own peculiar magic to fill in for the missing stars and create the same kind of mischievous matchmaking among the movie people as they did among mere mortals in Shakespeare’s comedy.

The mix of historical characters and the ones first devised by Shakespeare leaves Ludwig with the task of doing a lot of exposition in his first act which he handles with aplomb and not a little wit. Yes, he has to explain to modern audiences just who Max Reinhardt and Will Hays were while also establishing personalities for the likes of well remembered Hollywood types like Louella Parsons, Joe E. Brown and Dick Powell. But their characters become clear through plot lines that move smoothly and dialogue that is brisk and clever. Director Kyle Donnelly helps as well with touches such as placing the four Warner Brothers at the four corners of Arena's square stage as they fight on the phone over the progress of the film, or the lack of it. Ludwig's second act takes off as the farce is unleashed and then resolves into a satisfying sweetness.

The cast is a collection of favorites in the Potomac Region theater world of today just as they play a collection of favorites in the Hollywood film world of its day. How good to see Robert Prosky owning the stage at Arena again. How fun to find Rick Foucheux creating yet another strong persona as Jack Warner or Hugh Nees going over the top again, this time as Joe E. Brown in drag no less! Alice Ripley is a great deal of fun in the dumb (as a fox) blond role. As Oberon, Casey Biggs swaggers as a kind of bemused Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. type who observes the fantastic goings on on the sound stage, while Emily Donahoe makes a truly puckish Puck who might well have been better casting for the Warner’s than Mickey Rooney was (and he was great).

As can be expected at Arena, the production values (to use a Hollywood phrase) are first rate. Thomas Lynch’s set creates both the utilitarian feel of a sound stage and the magic of the movie’s set while Jess Goldstein’s costumes are a mixture of Hollywood flash, thirties styles and the peculiarities of each character. Obereon’s cape is a character all by itself and Biggs uses it for fabulous flourishes. Donnelly’s direction is crisp and clear during the exposition and allows the energy level to build at just the right time as the second act farce gets moving. Unfortunately, she stages many speeches and gags facing the north side of the four sided house, giving those on the south side the feeling that they are watching the backside of the show. If you haven’t purchased your tickets yet, ask for seating on the north side.

Written by Ken Ludwig. Directed by Kyle Donnelly. Design: Thomas Lynch (set) Jess Goldstein (costumes) Karma Camp (choreography) Brad Waller (fight choreography) Nancy Chertler (lights) Susan R. White (sound) Brady Ellen Poole (stage manager). Cast: Casey Biggs, Bethany Caputo, Emily Donahoe, David Fendig, Rick Foucheux, Scott Graham, Eric Jorgensen, Ellen Karas, Maggie Lacey, Robert McClure, Hugh Nees, Robert Prosky, Everett Quinton, Adam Richman, Alice Ripley.