It's not easy to do a farce.
When done poorly, "farce" can turn into strained humor and meaningless dialogue enhanced by slamming doors and spit takes. When done well it speeds along with a finesse that keeps the audiences laughing.
Fortunately "Love, Sex and the IRS" currently playing at the Pennsylvania Playhouse is the latte
The show has flaws, but these are overshadowed by some powerful performances, well-paced action and, of course, an awful lot of humor.
The show takes place in a run-down Manhattan apartment in 1979 where college buddies Jon and Leslie have been roommates. Jon, who has been filing both of their taxes for years, has unfortunately caught the suspicion of the Internal Revenue Service by claiming that "Leslie" is actually a woman and that he and Jon have been married. The IRS has discovered that "Leslie" had filed as a man until a few years prior when his returns suddenly changed his gender from "male" to "female."
The two friends decide to portray a married couple for the sake of a tax investigator in the hopes of avoiding a fine and possible jail time. Of course, this already complicated scenario is only made more complicated by the presence of Jon's neglected girlfriend, an overly suspicious building superintendent, and a surprise visit from Jon's mother and Leslie's girlfriend.
Unlike some farces the story is actually quite well-structured and tries to explain even the most absurd situation in a clever and believable way ¦ in as much as the craziness occurring on stage can be believed. The story follows an interesting plot filled with well rounded characters who “ obviously “ make some questionable decisions but that is what makes the story amusing to watch. Also, the play is clever enough to keep the situations on-stage believable until they finally spiral out of control in the third act “ in anticipation of the inevitable "happy" ending.
"Amusing" might be enough for the script “ but it is the actors who propel the show into downright hilarity. Brian Welsko as Jon does a great job of trying to maintain his composure as he desperately attempts to rationalize his lies (and encourage a very unwilling group of people to help him). He is the outer calm of a hurricane in which Sebastian Paff as "Leslie" is the eye. Mr. Paff is amazing in this role. The audience feels both sympathy and schadenfreude for him as he is manipulated and traumatized through the length of the play.
Arlene Fox plays Jon's girlfriend "Kate" who is also in on the scheme but has secrets of her own. She tries desperately to juggle other people on the stage and, though playing the role a bit more nasty than I thought was warranted, she is a perfect accomplice to Welsko and Paff.
Of course, there would be no reason for these three to be subjected to the next two hours of madness if not for the tax investigator who is played with a comic brilliance by Jerry Brucker. Mr. Brucker has deadpan delivery in the start which molds into a more relaxed demeanor in which he demonstrates a command of both grand and subtle moments of humor. He swings from milquetoast to lascivious with ease and is quite enjoyable to watch.
Steven Schmid is like an "evil twin" to Dwayne Schneider from the "One Day At A Time" television show. He plays the superintendent "Jansen" who is both cunning and devious “ you can see the twinkle in his eye when he realizes he is about to catch somebody doing something wrong. He is obviously less concerned with helping his tenants than with entrapping them and is a powerful force that bursts in and storms across the stage with energy that leaves the cast on stage “ and a few in the audience “ breathless for a moment.
But all this controlled chaos devolves into a glorious meltdown with the arrival of Jon's mother played with a dazzling mixture of Tallulah Bankhead, Agnes Moorehead, Meryl Streep and Santos herself. Ms. Santos exhausting and hilarious portrayal of "Vivian" is everything from obnoxious to eccentric but she never takes the role too far. She maintains a balance of haughtiness and ridiculousness which leaves her impossible to turn away from.
The cast is rounded out by Samantha Strickler as a remorseful girlfriend "Connie" and Dara Connelly as the mysterious "Grunion." Ms. Strickler plays her role with a "Goldie Hawn" kind of ditziness that could get annoying had she taken it too far “ which she fortunately never does. Ms. Connelly as "Grunion" is able to accentuate her small role by adding some physical humor you'll have to keep an eye out for as she lurks in the rear of the scene while the main action moves downstage. I would have preferred to see her play the role as a female instead of male but that doesn't detract from the performance overall.
The set by Brett Oliveira (built by Oliveira and Steven Schmid) looks and feels just as it should for the nineteen-seventies “ no matter if a disaster movie or romantic comedy. I do wish the set had gone a bit farther to make it look more "lived in." There are only small pieces of "garbage" and a few posters on the walls “ at a venue such as the Playhouse where you get to view the set prior to the performance I thought more details such as empty food containers and clothing would have heightened the "apartment of two young men" feel. Did this take away from the performance' Of course not. But if they were going to go as far as they did with the details (including laundry drying on a line outside a window upstage) I wish they would have not held back on other components.
Costumes by Shawn Kerbein were period perfect. I especially liked the mother's "Lee Grant" approved pants suit and all the ridiculous outfits Sebastian Paff had to slip in and out of. The costumes added a nice "final touch" to the feel of a zany comedy set in the late seventies.
The show as directed by Charles Weigold III and he has certainly assembled a highly talented and energetic group to tackle the challenges of this show. The pacing is perfect for a comedy of this style “ slowing down when it needs to but also never getting so frenetic that the audience loses what is going on or what is being said. One moment that was a problem for me was a silent phone conversation occurring on stage while two other people are talking. A solution would have been to have the actor to take the phone out the door next to them. Of course, there are enough clever and humorous ideas thrown into this show that the few faults can be overlooked and “ besides “ the rest of the audience who wasn't there to review the show were enjoying it too much to worry about these details.
Oh, heck, I was enjoying it just as much as they were!
If you want to laugh you will not be disappointed with "Love, Sex and the IRS" currently playing at the Pennsylvania Playhouse March 27, 28, 29 and April 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12. Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 3 pm.
For tickets call 610-865-6665 or visit www.paplayhouse.org