"The Ladies Man"

August 23, 2016 — Every one of the eight actors in this delightful farce has a brilliant comic role. David Breitbarth as Etienne the valet lies, then tells more lies to cover up previous lies to protect his boss, all the while hitting on Marie, the maid, played by Susan Riley Stevens, who's thrown into fits of hysterical laughter at the thought of an affair with Etienne. Anderson Matthews is Dr. Hercule Molineaux, Etienne's boss, who can't explain a night at the Moulin Rouge, and adds to the confusion by fabricating more stories that contradict Etienne's lies. Karron Graves is the doctor's wife, Yvonne, who isn't buying any of it.

Kraig Swartz is the doctor's friend Bassinet who speaks with a Sylvester Pussycat-style lisp and sprays everyone he talks to in the face. Dale Hodges is Madame Aigreville, Yvonne's domineering mother who strikes fear into everyone, especially all men of whom she has a very low opinion. Tall, intimidating Kate Hampton is Suzanne Aubin who accompanied the doctor at the Moulin Rouge, and no one believes their night out was innocent. Tom Frey is Gustav Aubin, a uniformed, sword-carrying, goose-stepping Prussian officer who happens to be Suzanne's over-protective husband.

Got all that?

Well, that isn't the half of it. Written and directed by Charles Morey, this play at the Peterborough Players in Peterborough, New Hampshire is a masterpiece of hilarious deception, mistaken identity and misunderstandings. A fine set by Harry Feiner can be quickly converted from a plush living room to a dressmaker's salon and back again, with a rotating section and lots of doors to be slammed as actors appear and disappear in a choreograph of perfect direction and timing.

A play of physical as well as verbal comedy, I may remember "The Ladies Man" as the funniest show of this season. Audience laughter was almost uninterrupted throughout.