by Shera Cohen
Special to Berkshire on Stage
Bravo to CT local, yet nation-wide, prolific playwright-extraordinaire Jacques LaMarre for yet another off-beat humorous play. LaMarre has a skill that tickles his audiences with consistent and often risqué chuckles; not belly-laughs, and that is exactly what he is going for.
“The Baroness”, currently on the boards at Playhouse on Park, takes a unique satirical angle on the uber-popular “The Sound of Music”. The play is not an extension of “SOM,” as it’s likely that Rodgers & Hammerstein and their heirs would never approve. However, the storyline takes two secondary characters and builds an entire new piece of theatre.
Remember the well-dressed and coiffed woman who Daddy Von Trapp ditches for Maria? She is the Baroness, and the star of the play. Remember Liesl’s boyfriend Rolf, the messenger on the bicycle? He’s the other character.
As the story evolves, the two form a union of sex and fun. Each reaps benefit from the affair. Yet, there is a 180-degree turn in the plot and language toward the end of Act I and through most of Act II.
While Rolf, in stature and demeanor, is still a boy/man, anyone in the audience who hasn’t lived in a cave for the past half-century who doesn’t know “SOM,” is sure to remember that Rolf is a Nazi-in-training. His character is not so cute any longer. Television and movie viewers have become used to dramadies in the last decade or so, yet Rolf’s good guy/bad guy personality seems to waver erratically with no segue to make the character as believable as one can possibly be in a satire.
Sarah Street is striking, walking tall about a luxurious bedroom. Note that Kim Zhou, set designer, has created an exquisite space suitable for Von Trapp’s wannabe fiancée. All action takes place here. Street portrays the biting dumpee for laughs. However, too many of her lines are completely inaudible when she stands or faces stage left. Street sometimes strains her neck and twists her torso in an effort for all to hear her. It doesn’t always work, and the move looks odd and uncomfortable. Director Michael Schiralli should address this flaw, for the sake of the audience and the actress.
“The Baroness” is approximately 100-minutes. The intermission is unnecessary. One-act plays are becoming more and more popular.
A reviewer’s job is not to rewrite the given. That said, upon the entry of the lovely and statuesque Baroness, one could easily assume that the actor was in drag. In fact, that might add more laughs, biting dialogue, yet appropriate for any audience. Jacque LaMarre has the savvy to make this happen if he chooses to; he can do pretty much anything.