Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 17, 1994 TAG: 9401170026
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN L. DAVIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"The Straight Man" is an intelligent examination of team chemistry. The story centers on Peter Evett (played by Davis Hall), the straight man in the long-running comedy team Evett & Bromfield. After his partner opts for a solo career, Evett must struggle to make himself marketable again. His trials are familiar to anyone who has ever lost a job and had to start a new career.
A straight man is nothing without a comic. Once the stronger half of a superb team, Evett is lost and confused when suddenly left alone. Once a star commanding high wages, he is reduced to guest appearances on telethons and game shows. Hall's performance as the straight man is impeccable.
His problems force him to re-examine his current team relationships with his agent, wife, mother, son and colleagues. Sambol accomplishes this through a series of cabaret-style scenes that blend mime, magic, music and dance.
Although Sambol presents each relationship as a kind of comedy team metaphor, with characters in stand-up routines or seated on stools before the audience, there are few punch lines. The effect is not meant to be a light and fluffy, joke-a-minute string of comedy skits. The mood is often serious, at times funny and sometimes even a little sad as the audience learns of tragic circumstances in certain relationships.
Several of the actors appear in multiple roles, changing costumes on the set in a way that reflects how people put on different faces for different relationships.
Sambol's dialogue is sparkling, witty and intelligent. Unfortunately, some parts of the play are so cluttered with background characters that the audience may be distracted from what's being said.
Stage, television and film actor Michael Goodwin gives a solid performance as Evett's partner, Bernie Bromfield. John Lewis plays a suitably disheveled Marvin Bromski, a second-rate comic Evett teams up with temporarily after Bernie leaves. Clif Morts is entertaining in his roles as agent, magician and card trickster, while Martha Wiese, Mill Mountain Theatre's director of marketing, plays Evett's show-biz mom.Other performers in the nine-member cast include Martha Perantoni, Jeanne Boisineau, Kyle Puccia and Stephanie Lynge.
Sambol, now 38 and a Baltimore resident, has about 25 plays to his credit. His play was chosen for the Mill Mountain competition from among more than 425 entries.
"The Straight Man," directed by guest artist William Gregg, continues in Theatre B at Center on Church through Jan. 30.
Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Saturday and Sunday matinees start at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12 Thursday through Saturday evenings and $10 Tuesday, Wednesday and for matinees.
For reservations, call the box office between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday at 342-5740.
by CNB