MORRISBURG – “This is the granddaddy of all farces,” laughed Liz Gilroy, who is directing the latest summer production at Upper Canada Playhouse, Boeing Boeing, running July 6-30.
“It is a very, very funny play which ran for 30 years in Paris. Since then, the show has been updated and has experienced a great resurgence, winning several Tonys recently.”
Marc Camoletti’s Boeing Boeing has literally left audiences rolling in the aisles with laughter in its long career.
Set in the swinging 60s, the farce focuses on Parisien bachelor Bernard, wealthy, debonair and a man happily juggling three fiancées, all of them stewardesses working for Boeing.
Life is very pleasant for Bernard, until he is suddenly faced with a horrible crisis: all three of “his” women are going to arrive at his flat at exactly the same time. How will he save himself?
If his American friend Robert, innocently visiting his old pal, and Bernard’s decidedly cranky maid, Bertha (“she came with the apartment”), are tossed into the looming crisis, well, the result is going to be some huge laughs for the audience.
A strong cast (in more ways than one) is a necessity in a farce like this. There is a lot of action on stage, much of it fairly frantic.
“Timing is important to the show. Boeing Boeing is a very physical play,” said Gilroy. “There’s actually a lot of rhythm to a farce, almost a kind of choreography. Actors have to be paying attention at all times.”
“Or you run into doors and walls,” commented Playhouse artistic director, Donnie Bowes, to laughter and nods from the cast.
The Playhouse has assembled a strong, versatile group of actors for this production.
Brenda Quesnel, who plays Bertha, loves the character. “She’s determined to keep Bernard on schedule and she’s cranky and stern. No shenanigans for her.”
Shenanigans, of course, are just what keep Bernard, played by Gaelan Beatty, afloat. “This is not Bernard’s first ‘rodeo’,” Gaelan laughed. “He’s juggled fiancées before, and he thinks he’s got it down to a fine art.”
Brian Young, who plays visitor Robert, explained, quite dead pan, that his character is “from Winsconsin, never been kissed before… never even seen a woman freshly bathed.”
The three stewardesses are Gabriella, an Italian, Gloria, an American and Gretchen, a German.
“Gabriella adores Bernardo, and thinks he’s a good Catholic boy who will turn out well,” laughs Siobhan Richardson.
“Gretchen definitely wears her heart on her sleeve,” said Stephanie Folkins, then added, “and her liver and her spleen!”
“Gloria is an American, and she wants marriage. Men are there to obey as far as Gloria is concerned,” said AnnaMarie Lea.
Rehearsals have been intensive. The complex set for this production was designed by veteran set designer John Thompson.
Asked if it took long for this cast to “gel” as a ‘team’, Donnie Bowes said that “it’s an interesting thing about theatre. The process of friendship is so fast. When you work intensively, you have to concentrate, and that makes a cast strong.”
“Of course, there’s a lot of kissing in this show and that definitely brings people together,” added Gaelan, with a grin.
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