That
Scoundrel Scapin
by
Molière
Directed by Joe Discher
Critical
Reviews
An excerpt from Variety
July 23, 2003
by Robert L. Daniels
"Les Fourberies de Scapin" (The Cheats of Scapin), a 1974
Broadway hit as "Scapino," with an extravagantly athletic
Jim Dale in the title role, was most recently revived by Roundabout
Theater in 1997, that time around as "Scapin," with the rubber-limbed
clowning of Bill Irwin. The play remains, by any other name,
a delightfully timeless farce.
Moliere's Neapolitan nonsense has enough cartoonish intrigue
to please, with devious servants, duped fathers and impassioned
lovers. Director Joe Discher, who is credited as adapter of
this production, has staged the horseplay with antic flair.
Discher has inserted some clever bits, staging angry confrontations
as boxing matches, and an amusing conceit has Scapin's cell
phone bearing bad news and summoning him to action.
James Michael Reilly is the mischievous and meddling Scapin,
and while he manages to garnish most of the hardy guffaws
with considerable flavor, he leaves the door open for much
more devious behavior.
Robert LuPone, as a miserly parent, is a right greedy old
curmudgeon, and when confined and pummeled in an oversized
flour sack he draws considerable yocks.
Jay Leibowitz offers a...comic presence as Scapin's sidekick,
Silvester, posing as a gimpy, bogus pirate king. Clark Carmichael,
as ardent, bumbling suitor Leander, provides some hardy pratfalls
and engages in some silly swordplay.
...a winsomely precious turn by Erica Piccininni.
Cameron Anderson's minimal but serviceable set features
a lantern-lit stage, backed by a beige illustration of a 17th-century
Naples street scene. Sound design includes the lilting strains
of a mandolin, and the colorful costumes by Mattie Ulrich,
always in character, boast the bold colors of circus clowns.
Picnicking families appeared to be having a right giddy
time of it, and the children sprawled on the lawn, in rapt
attention, were frequently found giggling at Scapin's manipulative
conniving.
"The Great Outdoors"
Shakespeare Theatre provides some summer fun with Moliere
comedy
By Peter Filichia
The Star-Ledger
Monday, July 21, 2003
Summer is a time for carnivals, and the Shakespeare Theatre
of New Jersey is currently offering an excellent one in its
production of Moliere's "That Scoundrel Scapin."
It's not a carnival in that it has a Ferris wheel, but it
is in the sense that it offers a great deal of free-wheeling
fun under Joe Discher's tilt-a-whirl direction. Theatergoers
should certainly jump onto this merry-go-round.
The show doesn't take place at the Shakespeare Theatre's
usual home on the campus of Drew University, but outdoors
in the Greek Theatre on the grounds of the College of St.
Elizabeth in Morristown. Discher makes it into a pretty good
amusement park with his nine actors careening into each other
with the speed and ferocity of dodge-'em cars. This roller-coaster
ride of comedy is worth sitting on stone steps for 90 solid
minutes.
Discher also adapted Moliere's 1671 farce, adding some 21st
century touches such as a calculator and a cell phone. But
it's still Moliere's show, and his 17th century message comes
through quite loud and very clear: In the middle of a sticky
situation, don't look to a French aristocrat to save the day.
High-borns are often low in brain capacity, and the easy life
makes them ill-prepared for any strife, no matter how slight.
What's required is someone who hasn't lived on the boulevard,
someone with street smarts, and that's our man Scapin.
The servant offers to help Leander (Clark Carmichael), who
loves Zerbinetta (Molly McCann), and Octavio (Christian Conn),
who's married Hyacintha (Erica Piccininni). The problem is
that their respective fathers, Geronte (Robert LuPone) and
Argante (Bruce Winant), have picked other brides for them.
Scapin is a confidence man in the literal sense of the word,
for he has every confidence that he can wheedle, cajole, and
trick the dumb dads.
The quartet of lovers is appropriately as sappy as four Vermont
maple trees. Carmichael is as good with wordplay as he is
with swordplay. Both LuPone Winant strut over the stage with
superior attitudes but each soon gets his comeuppance, which
makes them both fun to watch and mock.
He's splendidly played by James Michael Reilly, the state's
finest comic actor. When working out every seemingly inextricable
problem, he keeps a face so deadpan that it makes Buster Keaton's
look like Charles Nelson Reilly's. Flattery gets Scapin everywhere,
and Reilly is amusing how he pours it on while making the
fathers believe he is simply telling the truth. No matter
how tight a pickle Scapin might be in, Reilly maintains his
cool -- until the moment when he really seems to have entrapped
himself. Of course, Scapin gets out of that scrape, too, and
the audience wouldn't have it any other way.
What a pleasure, too, to see a performer who knows how to
wait for the audience's laughter to subside before he continues
with his next line. That is a lost art, and those who have
misplaced it should sit at Reilly's knee to re-learn it.
Scapin gets by with a little help from his friend Silvester,
a low-brow deliciously played by Jay Liebowitz. Mattie Ullrich's
costumes have the right commedia colors and feel. James H.
Aitken's wonderfully warm lighting suggests a sun-drenched
afternoon.
Seeing a show under the stars is such fun that it's another
reason to rue that we don't have California weather in the
Garden State. Wouldn't it be nice if the Shakespeare Theatre
of New Jersey could offer us one of these each month?
TheatreScene.net
by Simon Saltzman
Whether it is presented as "Scapin," "Scapino,"
"Les Fourberies de Scapin" ("The Tricks of
Scapin"), or "That Scoundrel Scapin," as it
is now being called and presented by the Shakespeare Theatre
of New Jersey, it's a notice to send in the clowns. Performing
like graduates of the Ringling Brothers' school, an exuberant
company is cavorting these hot nights al fresco at the Greek-styled
amphitheater on the campus of the College of Saint Elizabeth.
It is here where Moliere's late farce has been taken over
by rubber-legged, colorfully costumed clowns whose capers
generously reflect both the 17th and 21st century. In the
mirthful entertainment freely adapted and directed by Joe
Discher, one succumbs without too much effort to the way in
which the dottiest dots between the centuries are connected.
While the biggest laughs come from the use of a ringing cell
phone and a hand-held calculator, it is still Moliere's delightfully
preposterous plot that accounts for most of the entertainment.
As to the plot, a meddlesome servant initiates a rather stupid
scheme meant to foil two unjustly severe masters in their
plan to arrange the marriages of four already giddily twitterpatted
lovers. If the scheme hangs precariously on the threads of
incidents and coincidence, we are, from the outset, fully
engaged by the dominant antics of James Michael Reilly, the
Shakespeare Theatre's reigning farceur, who portrays the principal
role of the scamp-cum-rogue servant Scapin.
Reilly's artful mime-enhanced performance is one that I suspect
Moliere might approve. His instinct for broad buffoonery and
making topical asides to the audience is topped only by his
flair for fashion (courtesy of costumer Mattie Ullrich): purple
shoes, green hat, patterned pants and a flower in his lapel.
Notwithstanding his upstaging entrances and exits on a bicycle,
Reilly is given excellent comic support from Jay Leibowitz,
as his aiding and abetting fellow servant, mostly in disguise
as a pirate.
Under Discher's guidance, the pace is expectedly kept frenetic
and often ferocious. Much of the fun comes in equal portions
from those doing the beating up and those getting beaten up
whether by sword, paddle, or cane. Primary among the deservedly
abused are the two pompous fathers. As Geronte, Robert LuPone
strikes the prescribed attitudes with aplomb, as does Bruce
Winant, as Argante, but with perhaps a little more dash. While
it is fun to see these two get what's coming, it is our pleasure
to relish the silly madcap performances of Christian Conn
(Octavio) and Clark Carmichael (Leander), as the young swains,
and be beguiled by Erica Piccaninni (Hyacintha) and Molly
McCann (the gypsy Zerbinetta), as their respective loves.
Piccannini is particularly winsome fluttering about in a ballerina
costume.
The out-of-doors setting, despite it being just a pastel
crayon sketch of a town (nicely designed by Cameron Anderson),
is enhanced by some set pieces that allow for a few clever
visual effects. James H. Atken's lighting also effective in
casting a glow on the 90 minutes-long proceedings. There is
a nice lawn for a pre-show picnic and soft cushions are available
for those who don't like sitting on stone.
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