By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
Anybody who loves language and laughter will get a double-barreled dose out of the Rogue Theatre’s production of Tom Stoppard’s gleefully overwritten comedy satirizing the traditional who-dunit genre in “The Real Inspector Hound.”
With Joseph McGrath as director, the ensemble cast playing pretentious Brits to the manor born and dedicated to stuffing their own shirts takes a winning line of winks and nudges.
Matt Bowdren and Nic Adams play the two nattering theatre critics in bowler hats, Moon and Birdboot respectively. Cynthia Meier gets her share of laughs as the sour-faced housekeeper Mrs . Drudge in the play-within-a-play which the two critics are reviewing.
Every time Mrs. Drudge shows up, it seems, somebody has just threatened to murder someone else.
It is the two self-absorbed theater critics who provide the early laughs. Moon is also quite insecure because he is the theatre critic substituting for his newspaper’s regular man. As the “second string” critic, Moon tries even harder to be taken seriously. He is forever finding profound meaning in the most ordinary of scenes.
This is, after all, one of those creaking old mansions isolated by geography and the billowing fog that clings like a moist shroud to the suspicious inhabitants seething in their own dark suspicions of infidelity.
Birdboot, meanwhile as the ranking theater critic in the front row, is happy to use his influence and experience to “help” any actress get that big break by giving her a great review – so long as she is young, beautiful and accommodating.
Being the senior theater critic with the most years of experience sitting in the dark watching others pretend to be something they aren’t, Birdboot is also addicted to sugar – especially chocolate. It is true even the grumpiest critic can endure the most inept performance as long as he has enough chocolate at hand.
In the play-within-a-play that is being reviewed, Leanne Whitewolf Charlton has the central role as Matron of the Manor, Cynthia Muldoon. She is the patrician prize pursued by the dashing younger gentleman, Simon Gascoyne (Brian Johnson), who has arrived at the manor under mysterious circumstances.
Also on hand to complicate matters are tennis debutante Felicity Cunningham (Dylan Page) and the blustering military man Maj. Magnus Muldoon (Roger Owen). In the title role as the dog-faced Inspector Hound is David Greenwood.
“The Real Inspector Hound” is a one-act preceded by another one-act to begin the evening, Stoppard’s “New-Found-Land.” This play is essentially two monologues presented by two men in a cluttered London government office.
McGrath plays the elderly Bernard, ranting about the British view of America. Bowdren takes the part of Arthur, a younger man who raves about all the accomplishments of the United States.
Listening to Bowdren describe in elaborate detail how much this proud young country has achieved, it is sad to realize how much of the country’s can-do spirit and optimism has been betrayed since the 1960s.
Bowdren's lengthy list of shining examples of excellence from the past reminds us that if this nation is presently going through a contemporary version of “Paradise Lost,” America is certainly ready for a sea-change of attitude and a morale-boosting update to “Paradise Found.”
Performances of “The Real Inspector Hound” and “New-Found-Land” continue through Sunday, June 26.
Curtain times are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at www.TheRogueTheatre.org or by calling520-551-2053.
Thursday, June 23 is a "$25 or pay-what-you-will" performances.
Reservations are encouraged for all performances.
Half-price student rush for remaining tickets begins 15 minutes before curtain with valid student ID.
Free parking is available in our lot off Herbert Avenue (the alley just east of the theatre).
The Real Inspector Hound and New-Found-Land preview on Wednesday, June 15 and Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 7:30 P.M. Tickets for the preview performances are $19.
Opening Night is on Friday, June 17, 2011.
Regular performances of The Real Inspector Hound and New-Found-Land continue on Saturday, June 18 through Sunday, June 26, 2011.
Curtain times are Thursday through Saturdayat 7:30 P.M. and Sundays at 2:00 P.M.
Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at TheRogueTheatre.org or by calling 520-551-2053.
Thursday, June 23 is a "$25 or pay-what-you-will" performance.
Reservations are encouraged for allperformances.
Half-price student rush for remaining tickets begins 15 minutes before curtain with valid student ID.
Free parking is available in our lot off Herbert Avenue (the alley just east of the theatre).
And in case you missed the photo the first time around...
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