I went into the evening excited to see a classic farce, but sadly this production was played more for speed than comedy. While it’s true that pacing is key when trying to get laughs, a joke isn’t funny if it’s not delivered well. Sometimes it’s worth slowing down to take a breath or a pause or modulate one’s voice in order to get the laugh. This production opted not to. There were a few specific lines of dialog that clearly should’ve been jokes, but they weren’t delivered as such. After years on the sets of sitcoms, I could hear in my mind what a sitcom actor would’ve done to get the laugh and these stage actors didn’t deliver it that way – or in any other comedic way – and, sure enough, the dialog slipped right by, barely noticed, let alone laughed at.

In this production, the characters were saying the words but we weren’t feeling what they were supposed to be feeling. And it wasn’t clear that they were either. Embarrassing moments didn’t feel as embarrassing as they should have, close calls didn’t feel as close. Perhaps it didn’t help that the veteran sitcom actor was playing the straight man. Then again, he played the straight man on TV. During this production, I spent more time wondering, “Why didn’t he just–?” or “Why doesn’t she–?” than laughing. It just didn’t sell it. I was surprised to read that the director had directed many British farces in the past. I can’t speak to his previous shows, but the choices he made this time around just didn’t work.