BY ALYSON SENA Palisadian-Post Staff Writer Christmas has arrived early this year, with the Santa Monica Theatre Guild’s production of Alan Ayckbourne’s British comedy ‘Absurd Person Singular.’ This entertaining and quirky kitchen farce, produced by Greg and Polly Petersen, may prematurely remind you of the tensions that accompany the holiday season, but it will keep you laughing from start to finish. The show runs through Saturday, October 9 at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre, 2627 Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica. ”Directed by Nikki Hevesy, the strong cast of six people share the comedic spotlight. Set in a northern suburb of London on three consecutive Christmas Eves in the late 1970s, the play unites three couples, unlikely friends, who reluctantly take turns hosting the traditional holiday party at their homes. ”All of the action the audience sees plays out in the kitchens, where characters congregate for drink, food and mainly refuge from awkward social situations, only to face more humiliating conversations and absurd mishaps. Three impressive sets designed by Barbara Kallir reflect the couples’ class distinctions and unique personalities. ”The flashy red and yellow kitchen of the Hopcrofts reveals their middle-class status and frenzied happiness, as Jane (Kat Harris) and Sidney (Sean Vincent Biggins) prepare for the arrival of their guests. A compulsive housewife, Jane would rather clean than socialize, but she repeatedly fails to satisfy both her husband’s domestic and social demands even though she trudges out in a rainstorm to buy tonic water for the gin-and-tonics. ”Once Sidney realizes his wife has gone out and returned in her most unflattering galoshes, slicker and hat, he conveniently locks her out in the rain for the night to salvage his own image in front of the upper-class bank manager, architect neighbor and their wives. Harris’ humorous portrayal of naive Jane, who squeals and sobs through her mistakes in true ‘I Love Lucy’ fashion (though she lacks Lucy’s cunning), is memorable. ”Act II, set in the Jacksons’ untidy flat, is easily the most entertaining while singularly disturbing act of the play. In the midst of telling his depressed wife that he is leaving her for another woman, Geoffrey Jackson (Jonathan Strait), an egocentric architect, remembers they are supposed to be hosting the annual party. ”When guests arrive moments later, the Jacksons’ rabid dog, George, restricts everyone to the kitchen, where the Hopcrofts set to cleaning and fixing appliances used by Eva Jackson (Susan Foley) in failed suicide attempts. The bank manager, Ronald Brewster-Wright (T.W. Omen), is electrocuted when he tries to be handy, and his alcoholic wife, Marion Brewster-Wright (Terra Shelman), revels in covering him with the Jacksons’ dirty laundry. ”While disheveled-looking Eva does not verbally say anything throughout the act, her bulging eyes, elaborate facial expressions and gestures speak volumes about her desperation and shocking inability to kill herself without its being fumbled by someone’s blind undoing. Foley gives a superb, believable performance as Eva, which culminates in her character leading a side-splitting chorus of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas.’ ”The last act initially lacks the comic steam of the first two, though the Brewster-Wrights are clearly incapable of throwing a party in their fashionable home given that Marion’s alcoholism has restricted her to the bedroom. When Marion emerges in her robe, she joins her stiff husband as well as the still unhappily married Jacksons in hiding from the Hopcrofts, who find their way in through an open back door. ”Of course, the annoyingly jolly and childish couple breathes life into the party with their introduction of a musical freeze-dancing game, in which the first person to move after the music stops is challenged with having to dance with a tea cozy on her head or an orange between his knees. ”The ridiculous image of a lonely and confused Ronald dancing with an apple under his chin and a spoon in his mouth reminds us that the tragic and the comic often go hand-in-hand. ‘Some people seem to have the hang of it, and some of us just aren’t so lucky,’ Ronald says about relationships. ”And it is when the lives of these vulnerable characters turn most absurd, as in this final dancing scene, that they are able to connect with each other, evoking multiple emotions at once from the audience. ” ”The stylish British 1970’s costumes by Anne Gesling are smashing, and the hair and makeup design by Krys Fehervari is complementary. In order to accomplish elaborate set changes, for the which production staff deserves loud applause, the show includes two intermissions. Sound design is by Stephan Jonas. ”’Absurd Person Singular’ runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m., and one Saturday matinee September 25 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 for seniors and $10 for students. Contact: 828-7519.
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