A large cast. A highly referential, period-specific text. A cavalcade of outsized, eccentric characters. A run time of nearly three hours, with two intermissions.
Moss Hart and George S Kaufman’s 1939 play, “The Man Who Came to Dinner,” is a dramaturgical minefield. Fortunately, USM theatre department’s production, playing November 14-23rd at Russell Hall in Gorham, is one of the most deftly-staged, well-acted and all around professional I’ve seen in quite some time (and this includes several, ahem, “Union Scale” endeavors I’ve had the misfortune of witnessing).
Fourth year theatre major Travis M. Grant stars as the ornery gossip maven Sheridan “Sherry” Whiteside, and negotiates Hart and Kaufman’s rapid fire witticisms with impeccable timing. This is no mean feat in and of itself, especially considering how esoteric so many of the references Whiteside makes are by today’s standards.
However, it is Grant’s ability to embody Whiteside’s charisma that is impressive; though he is callow, manipulative and vindictive, he is also highly engaging. Sherry isn’t just Perez Hilton for the New Deal set; he’s a fully realized human being.who happens to have the demeanor of Oscar Wilde in the end stages of syphilis.
The supporting cast is equally strong, I was struck in particular by the ability of the young cast to portray characters who are not only from another time and place, but who are much older. Joshua Adams and Sarah Baglione are wonderful in the thankless roles of master and mistress of the house, completely cast aside by the dictatorial Whiteside.
Being a farce, “The Man Who Came to Dinner” has plenty of two-dimensional characters thrown in for added comic effect, but the young actors manage to portray them in such a way that avoids unnecessary mugging. It’s always my inclination to hate these kinds of characters; it’s too easy a brand of comedy, but freshman Darren Brown as the wild haired etymologist Professor Metz and Political Science major Ethan Woodard as the doddering Dr. Bradley are genuinely likeable and believable despite the absurdity of their characters.
Only Erol Ileri as Whiteside’s raconteur actor buddy, Banjo, seemed to defy my sense of truth; he’s very talented, and displays great physical ability, but he didn’t seem to be in the same play as the rest of the cast, and at times, it felt like he was channeling Yogi Bear.
The production works from top to bottom, with very few exceptions. The stagecraft at the theatre department, as usual, is top notch; the two-story set, designed by Charles S. Kading and ably constructed by USM’s Stage Craft Lab, is an unassuming yet evocative interior of an upper middle class home, circa the late 1930s. Besides one piano piece that sounds like it’s being played on a Victrola somewhere in the house rather than by a character onstage, Nathan Speckman’s sound design is strong, giving the set an added sense of dimension.
Sometimes the key to completing a character lies with a detail: a prop or a costume piece, and it’s clear that “The Man Who Came to Dinner” is full of costumes and makeup that actively assist many of the players in crafting their characters. The vintage wheelchair which Sheridan Whiteside, inhabits for the majority of the play, is practically a character unto itself, as is the outlandish purple suit which Sherry’s solipsistic ingénue pal Lorraine Sheldon is wearing when she makes her grand entrance.
Under the exacting direction of faculty member Thomas Power, “The Man Who Came to Dinner” sustains a perfect level of energy for its length; it neither drags, nor does it derail at any point. It’s an amusing and unusually well controlled farce, completely worth checking out.