Clever set, skilled performers surpass likability of ‘Scapin’

7268336-0-4

Bill Irwin and Mark O’Donnell’s modern adaptation of Moliere’s 17th century "Les Fourberries de Scapin" invites directors to put their own stamp on the material. And Utah Festival director Kent Thompson is not shy about meeting the challenge.

The plot involves the misadventures of a servant trying to unite two pairs of lovers by tricking fathers who are ready to disinherit their sons. The fun is in the absurd complications, the director’s inventiveness and the performers’ over-the-top foolery.

I don’t want to give away much about Jo Winiarski’s set except to say its cleverness puts us in the mood for a grand, commedia dell’arte good time. There’s a magical piano that controls much of the stage mechanics, a fake, theatrically lit false frame that makes us feel as if we’re watching a play within a play, and signs that magically drop from the "sky."

The designs transplant you in a cartoon world, and, amazingly, the performers seem to belong there. They move with such elasticity that you sense their limbs are capable of stretching miles beyond human limits.

Matt Zambrano, a pint-sized dynamo of an actor, brings alive so many types of characters as Sylvestre that I have no idea what he really looks like.

The foolish fathers (Roderick Peeples and Michael Santo) are simpletons in marvelously different ways. Peeples is vocally prissy and physically pompous; Santo looks level-headed and becomes undignified only when he tries to reason things out.

Melisa Pereyra is a dangerously seductive townswoman. And the versatility of Nakeisha Daniel, as a big-bosomed, teasing servant woman, can only be appreciated if you also see her in the festival’s current "To Kill a Mockingbird."

In the title role, David Ivers shows a veteran’s mastery of movement and timing.

But his speaking voice is rough-edged, and he doesn’t project the disposition of a clown.

Worse, the director spends too much time milking laughs with monotonous incongruities. Sure, it’s funny once or twice to see a 17th century character get modern-day funky. But how many times does the director expect that joke to work?

"Scapin" overflows with skill. But it’s a show I admired more than liked.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at vegastheaterchat@ aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.