AISLE SAY Massachusetts
IN THE MOOD
by Kathleen Clark
Directed by Marc Bruni
Berkshire Theatre
Group/Fitzpatrick Main Stage, August 2-13
Kathleen Clark has written a lightweight comedy, In the Mood, which is bound to be on
summer theatre and dinner theatre playbills in the future. I don’t say this to
denigrate either summer or dinner venues. The Berkshire Theatre Group, which produced Ms. Clark’s new play at the
Fitzpatrick Main Stage this summer, is about to open Tennessee Williams’ Period of Adjustment, so it’s apparent
that play selection is as much about balance as it is about attracting
audiences.
Clark’s 6-character
play borrows heavily from the plots of sex farces and romantic comedies –
mistaken love, husband caught with mistress, people passing themselves off as
other than they are, and love finding itself before the final fadeout. The play
has a handful of very funny lines and performances from the company that
enliven what could easily become tired and predictable.
Lee Savage’s lovely setting defines the world of the play and,
at the same time, maximizes the stage space at the Fitzpatrick. A play about
wealthy people who live wealthy lives without worrying about it requires an
environment that the characters and, by extension, the audience can live in and
with. And much to their credit, the BTF is aware of this and sees the value in
producing a play about smart, stylish people in a smart and stylish fashion.
Plot counts for
little in Clark’s play, but the performers do what they can – and they do
very well, in fact – to inject vitality and forward motion to keep things
afloat. Aided by director Marc Bruni,
whose pacing is what plays of this kind demand, the short intermissionless
evening speeds along and loses momentum two or three times when the writing takes
an abrupt change of direction.
The play is one of
situation rather than jokes or punch lines. With situations too familiar to be
called Clark’s own, the play is more tepid than tart, but the audience appeared
to have had a gently good time.
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