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The Bay City Players Usher the Comedic Farce Of ‘Charley’s Aunt’ to the Stage By Robert E. Martin Audiences will be treated to a distinctive slice of ensemble humor with The Bay City Player’s upcoming production of Charley’s Aunt on November 13-15 & 19-22nd. Authored by playwright Brandon Thomas back in 1887 the play was a major long-running hit on the British stage that set a standard for witty comedic farce, which has endured through the ages. It was also the only work that Thomas ever authored. It broke historic records for lays of any kind, with an original London run of 1,466 performances. Silent film versions of the play were released in 1915 and 1925 and a ‘talkie’ film version of the lay came out in 1930, as one of the earliest ‘talkie’ comedies. According to Assistant Director Leeds Bird, “Charley’s Aunt is without doubt one of the best farces ever written in the English language. When it debuted on the stage it may have been the most popular comedy in the English-speaking world because of the fact it’s so clever. If you look at almost all TV situation comedies you can find basic elements in all of them from conceits that were developed and unfold in Charley’s Aunt.” The story of Charley’s Aunt focuses upon Charley Wykeham and Jack Chesney, undergraduates at Oxford University, who need a chaperon so they can entertain some young ladies. When Charley receives word that his guardian aunt, Donna Lucia d’Alvadorez, a rich widow from Brazil (“where the nuts come from”) is coming to visit him, they invite the young ladies to lunch to meet her. One problem is that Charley has never met his aunt. So when her visit is delayed they convince their friend, Lord Fancourt Babberly, to impersonate her. According to Leeds, even though the work was written in the 19th Century, “It’s not an ‘old’ play because you can do a lot to update it. Most of what happens in the play is by coincidence.” “In addition to the basic plot of the play, the girls have an uncle and a guardian that doesn’t approve of the girls spending any time with Charley and his friend; plus Jack’s father shows up, so you basically have all these layers of people pretending to be who they are or aren’t, which gets fairly hectic. Usually we associate this type of action with French farce because you have doors slamming all the time.” “The TV show Cheers would have one episode a year with doors slamming all around the place and characters coming and going, so as I noted earlier, a lot of elements have been incorporated from Charley’s Aunt into contemporary comedy. It’s become the foundation for a zillion comedies.” For director Robin Devereaux the prospect for giving shape and form to Charley’s Aunt is a daunting task. “I’ve been here at Bay City Players for 25 years and this is the second show I’ve directed,” notes Robin. “I served as an assistant director on 3 other shows and more or less fell into this one. Initially a different production was scheduled, but the Board of Directors decided to lighten up the season a bit and Charley’s Aunt was a perfect fit. I hadn’t read the play until I knew I needed to direct it and Leeds offered to mentor me, which has been a godsend, as this production involves a lot of blocking and positioning for the actors.” Robin cites the most challenging component of the play as transitioning complicated stage direction with many fresh-faced new young actors. “In this particular production we have five new people and four that have not done a stage production since high school. One young man has had film experience working as a double for Johnny Depp and he wanted to try the stage. His name is Todd Stevenson and he’s from Bay City and is a dead-ringer for Depp. We’ve gone to places together and people walk up and say, ‘Are you Johnny Depp?”,” smiles Robin. “So the play is challenging as just a stage production, let alone working with folks unfamiliar with projecting and blocking,” she continues. “But the cast has been a joy to work with because if you ask them do something they do it and are very giving.” “This is a complicated show for experienced actors to get,” adds Leeds, “because the actors not only have a play to learn but they also have these important mark and timing issues involved with comedic farce.” I’m curious as to how Leeds would rank the writing of Thomas with other noted wits of the British stage such as Oscar Wilde? “Thomas doesn’t play as broadly as Wilde does,” reflects Leeds, “and with Wilde his language is always great and on the money. Thomas also renders great language and knows how to write a strong line and still get laughs.” “This play will appeal to a broad range of people,” comments Robin, “even 3 Stooges fans, simply because of the timing involved with action on entrances and exits. I brought that reference up to the actors and think it’s helping them a little to visualize what to do.” “Thomas doesn’t miss a moment in this play,” continues Leeds. “Things referenced early in the play come up later, so an audience goes, ‘Oh, that’s what that bit was all about!’ His timing is great and if I were to put him in a league with a contemporary writer, I would liken him to the guy that wrote the Mash TV series. He combines the physicality of slapstick and farce with high comedy and good dialogue.” Now in its third work of rehearsal, tickets for the Bay City Player’s production of Charley’s Aunt can be purchased at the box office by calling 989-893-5555 or by going to www.baycityplayers.com. Additionally, for those that haven’t attended any productions during the current season, audiences can also expect to experience some welcome facelifts and updates to the Bay City Players’ stage. Recently the venue added a new cantilevered ceiling with recessed lighting for better acoustics.
Charley’s Aunt Director Robin Devereaux & Asst. Director Leeds Bird
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