THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 4, 1995 TAG: 9505040389
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Yet another comedy about bed-related activities and mistaken identities.
This one - to be presented Friday and Saturday by The Dinner Theater of Anglers Cove - is called ``Bedside Manners.''
It is a close relative of those 1950s-'60s British cinema sex romps - witty dialogue, fast-moving, lots and lots of conversation about making love, and lots of lines with double meanings.
Quick example: One man wants to leave the hotel but cannot.
``My engine won't start,'' he said. Can you guess what the other guy says? Sure - ``mine won't either.''
The interesting thing about these presentations is that the language is squeaky clean, and most of the physical activities just hint at what many of today's movies and television programs show in manner explicit.
So, you probably won't get any guilt pangs about watching ``Bedside Manners'' on Saturday and going to church Sunday.
Like it or not, it is a funny play - well directed, well acted, although a few minutes could judiciously be lopped.
There is some repetition as the characters run from room to room to room.
Why?
One room has a - er - Mr. Smith - awaiting a lady friend for a tryst.
Another room has a - er - Mr. Smith - awaiting a lady friend for a tryst.
The two ladies enter the seedy hotel, each asking for a - er - Mr. Smith.
Merry mix-up time.
There is more to it than that, but let's not give away what plot there is.
While the young trysters - yes, it's in the dictionary - are mixing it up, the hotel clerk gets in the middle of everything and, gets a lot of laughs, sometimes from the cast in mid-play.
He deserves 'em. Ken Harrod moves and mugs beautifully as he sticks his nose into everybody's business and sticks his hand out for gratuities every few moments.
Mugging is the order of the night. In this case, it is all right. The cast does not take anything seriously and that's as it should be.
They romp and have a grand time. So does the audience.
Chris Haas, Christine Crosland and Tammy Collins are fun to watch - particularly Collins who spends a good deal of time slipping 'round in her slip.
The ``husbands'' spend a good deal of time in their boxer shorts.
Tammy's husband, Craig Collins, shows a wonderfully exaggerated comedic sense. He has no shame - raising his brows, raising hell, moving about like a Keystone Kop.
Director Dave Dallas III keeps things moving but, for the most part, the actors do their own thing. They do it well and in sync, and the result is a romping good time. MEMO: THEATER PREVIEW
What: ``Bedside Manners'' presented by The Dinner Theater of Anglers
Cove.
Where: Angler's Cove Restaurant, Hertford.
When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. by CNB