The cast of Georges Feydeau’s A Flea in Her Ear at Trinity Rep. Directed by Tyler Dobrowsky, set design by Patrick Lynch, costume design by Olivera Gajic, and lighting design by Dan Scully.
By Kim Kalunian, WPRO News
Bawdy, sexy and laugh out loud funny.
That’s Trinity Repertory’s “A Flea in Her Ear,” on stage now until April 26.
The Georges Feydeau farce follows Victor Chandebise (Fred Sullivan, Jr.) and his wife Raymonde (Phyllis Kay). Raymonde thinks her husband is cheating, and sets out to catch him in the act. With the help of her best friend Lucienne (Angela Brazil), they devise a plot to catch Victor in the act. They write a perfumed letter to Victor from a “secret admirer” and invite him to a passionate love-making session at the local rent-by-the-hour hotel, The Naughty Pussy.
But of course, the plan goes off with more than a few hitches.
I won’t give too much away in terms of the plot, but there’s plenty of doors slamming, lovers running, passion interrupted and even a bit of lingerie. In all, “Flea” has everything you’d expect from a classic bedroom farce.
Trinity Rep’s all-star cast is such a delight to watch. Fred Sullivan, Jr. has no easy task, as he doubles up as Victor Chandebise and his lookalike, the hotel bellhop named Pocket. He almost makes the audience believe that we might somehow get to see both characters on stage at once.
Kay and Brazil are the perfect pair of schemers. They giddily believe like their plan to catch Victor in the act is foolproof until they realize just how wrong they were. Mauro Hantman is the ideal combination of smarmy and witty as Raymonde’s almost-lover Tournel, and Stephen Thorne all but steals the show as Camille, Chandebise’s nephew with a speech impediment that accounts for a solid chunk of the show’s laughs.
We meet all of these characters in act one of the play, set in Chandebise’s home – a lavish, wood-paneled set by Patrick Lynch, which cleverly conceals the set for act two – The Naughty Pussy Hotel.
The shocking pink “hotel” is somewhat reminiscent of Providence gentleman’s club Cheaters, and the things that go on inside the Naughty Pussy are, well, also reminiscent of Cheaters.
In fact, it’s where cheaters go for their trysts. We find Dr. Finache (Richard Donelley) there in his corset and high heels. It’s where we meet Rugby (Steve Kidd), the German with an affinity for wrestling masks in the bedroom. And it’s where the hotel’s owner Ferrallion (Joe Wilson, Jr.) and his wife (Rachael Warren) make their first, sexy appearance. We’re also revisited by Carlos Homenidès de Histangua (Timothy Crowe), a leopard-clad, seethingly jealous Spaniard with a gun.
The Naughty Pussy is where most of the door slamming, clothes flinging, slow-motion fighting and paranoid fleeing occur. There’s also a great recurring bit involving Baptistine (Barbara Meek), Ferrallion’s aging, disgruntled aunt.
Act three of the show returns to Chandebise’s home, where there’s much confusion over the resemblance between Victor and Pocket before the ultimate resolution of the play.
Under the direction of Tyler Dobrowsky, “A Flea in Her Ear” a punchy, over-the-top farce filled with innuendo, prat falls and more than a few winks and nudges. But it’s the type of entertainment that’s sure to lift you out of your extended winter doldrums.
So for some mindless, carefree fun, grab your lover and run to “A Flea in Her Ear” at Trinity Rep.
Georges Feydeau’s “A Flea in Her Ear” is onstage now through April 26 at Trinity Rep’s Dowling Theater. For show times, information and tickets, click here.
