Reviewed by Dessa Bayrock
Plays again:
Saturday, April 26 at Noon
Sunday April 27 at 8:00 p.m.
Directed by Delaney Bergstrom
The show starts with the sound of rain, although the sound effect doesn’t exactly sound like rain. The expression on David’s face (Noel Funk), however, makes it clear that this Spanish vacation is utterly ruined by the completely uncooperative weather. Clear on Vicky’s face (Madison McArthur), on the other hand, is how utterly fed up she is with her husband.
McArthur is beautifully expressive, a feature of hers that shines in the close quarters of the studio space. The audience catches every grimace, every eye-roll, and every shy smile that crosses her face. Funk is also expressive, and although his character leans towards the over-the-top end of the scale, the audience can accept his tremulous falsetto and constantly cracking voice as part of the campy comedy – a genre this short play snuggles into with aplomb. When the young couple is mistakenly delivered a spy’s briefcase, panic and mayhem set in, resulting in a knee-slappingly cliché spy comedy, complete with karate kicking and diving to the floor to dodge imaginary bullets.
It’s good for groans and more than a couple guffaws. At times the actors are completely and obviously aware of how hilarious their dialogue is, and occasionally fall into overly-engineered pauses for anticipated laughter, but all in all it’s the perfect introduction to DFest 2014: short, sweet, and filled with such campy punchlines that your dad could have written them.
Memorable lines:
“If you say it’s thundering, mark my words: you’ll need a team of Spanish doctors to retrieve that remote control.”
“Dammit, Paolo! This is a matter of security!”
“That’s not just a briefcase … that’s a spy’s briefcase!”
