The Summer Circle Theater’s production of “The London Cuckolds,” an indulgent, sex-driven comedy, was humorous and witty despite natural distractions and an unwelcome injection of modern culture.
The theater, which is outside of the Auditorium on the lawn near the Red Cedar River, was the closest thing to a mosquito breeding ground that East Lansing has to offer during Friday night’s show.
The irritating venom of the buzzing bugs left most playgoers swatting and scratching throughout the show. During the final act, some audience members were forcing constant motion so as to avoid the hellacious bite of, arguably, the most annoying insect in existence.
Even though the mosquitoes bordered on unbearable, the action on the stage captivated the audience throughout the evening.
At first, some of the dialogue between the characters was hard to understand because of their semi-heavy English accents.
For example, the opening scene with Mr. Wiseacres, played by MSU graduate and East Lansing resident Ken Beachler, and Mr. Doodle, played by astrophysics and theater senior Andrew Hungerford, was a ranting discourse about wives’ duties. Their initial vocal exchanges were almost inaudible. However, after adapting to the language, the actors’ and actresses’ words became decipherable and comprehensible.
Theater senior Mike McKeogh, who played the energetic and sex-starved Mr. Ramble, was the comedic highlight of the performance. McKeogh’s hip-thrusting gyrations accentuated his physical comedy skills, while his sharp-tongued remarks displayed the brilliant wit of the character.
Mr. Ramble, his faithful servant Roger and drunken friend Mr. Townly, depicted by theater sophomore T. Michael Joseph McCartan, always seemed to find inopportune times to encounter each other, especially for Mr. Ramble’s love conquests.
While Mr. Ramble runs around town attempting to consummate his lust-filled ambitions, the opportunistic Townly succeeds where Ramble fails. And, luckily for Mr. Ramble, Roger is around at precisely the right time to save his hide as he nearly gets caught by various husbands.
The unfaithful wives in the play were aptly portrayed by theater graduate students Deborah Draheim and Anita Snider and theater senior Lindsey Stakoe.
Draheim, who played the seductive Mrs. Arabella Doodle, found a way to arrange an extramarital affair while using the word “no” exclusively. Snider’s representation of Eugenia, a two-faced housewife, was convincing in its promiscuous, church-going characterization. Peggy, Mr. Wiseacres’ naive teen-age wife, was played suitably and facetiously by Stakoe.
A detail in “The London Cuckolds” that didn’t particularly flow with the show was Mr. Gullillity’s vocal peculiarities. The character, played by theater graduate student R. Scott Cantrell, spoke in a pseudo “Bill and Ted” manner, even though the rest of the cast spoke like it was actually from London.
Except for an out-of-place accent and the brutal onslaught of mosquitoes, “The London Cuckolds” was funny, well-acted and generally enjoyable. While Mr. Ramble’s efforts are amusing, his continued failures become somewhat tiresome - but it’s when he presses on in his pursuits that the play hits its comedic high notes.
This week, the Summer Circle Theater debuts “Educating Rita,” its third and final production of the season. The comedy runs at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, with all performances next to the Auditorium.
