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Intricate schemes and messy love lives abound in the Theatre Gym’s regional premiere of Ken Ludwig’s The Fox on the Fairway, a farce about life on the green. But on opening night, it felt a bit like the action was stuck in a sand trap. The comedic ingredients were all there—the over-the-top but still spot-on character portrayals, the conflict, the slapstick humor—but the cast needed time to gel and to pick up the pace. Under creative director Art Suskin’s guidance, the production shows promise, and perhaps farther down the fairway (or the run) this cast will come in under par.

In KCM’s Q&A with the playwright, Ludwig spoke about admiring the architecture of a farce above always trying to delve into some deep meaning or moral in a play. Ludwig’s many meandering plots, all of which somehow pull together into a neat package by the curtain, center on a yearly tournament between two rival country clubs—Quail Valley and Crouching Squirrel—and a bet between their heads, Max Bingham and Dickie Bell, respectively. Meanwhile, supporting club members fumble through new relationships and refashion old ones, all with the drama of the tournament as accompaniment.

Ludwig’s hilarious writing is the real star; the actors are sometimes just vehicles for his well-written prose. They drop gems such as, “Golf is ‘flog’ spelled backwards. Think about it.” But as Max (arguably the main character), Andrew Fogel stands out as the obsessive, needs-anger-management executive director of Quail Valley. He keeps the pace pulsing forward with an urgent thirst for winning at all costs. Max’s counterpart Dickie (Stephen Howard) is one of the outright funniest characters, always dressed in mismatching sweater ensembles. Howard aptly portrays Dickie as a haughty, overblown golf purist who thinks he’s smarter than he really is. Louise Heindbedder (Devon Barnes) and Justin Hicks (Ryan Mott), newly engaged Quail Valley employees, make an adorable, quirky pair. Barnes embraces Louise’s manic naïveté with a ferocity that makes her one of the most fun to watch on stage, and Mott gives genuineness to Justin’s dopey-eyed, clumsy but lovable character. Susan Carriger struggles to play Pamela Peabody, a Quail Valley board member with an attachment to Max, with authenticity; she sounds as if reading the lines rather than feeling them. Finally, Kathy Kane plays Max’s wife Muriel Bingham with an unyielding, yet endearing flair.

Designer Glenn Anderson’s set is simple but effective. Two sets of French doors stand side-by-side up center, surrounded by a series of other doors leading to various rooms throughout Quail Valley Golf and Country Club (perfect for convoluted chase scenes complete with slamming doors). The walls, the bar, and the floor are painted in bright primary colors, which lend a mocking, over-the-top quality to the scene that’s perfect for comedy. Sound and lighting (Scott Stubbs) could use some tweaking, especially in the timing of cues and the choice of Muriel’s over-the-telephone squawk to her husband Max.

Costumes (Julia Ras) are suitably golfy and speak volumes to each character’s personality. Special mention must be made of Dickie’s series of horrid sweaters (“Did you have to kill it, or did it crawl up there and die on its own?” Pamela asks) ranging from bright yellow to nasty orange with golf bags and paired with clashing pants. One hilarious choice was a fast-forwarded recap of the show at the end, set to the William Tell Overture, in which the actors rocketed about the stage to recreate the tournament’s events. Not sure if this was written into the script or an addition by Suskin, but either way, it worked marvelously.

At the end of the play, Louise, who has been studying Homer in her night classes, gives an epic speech about golf. Its moral: stay the course. Theatre Gym’s cast should apply that axiom as it continues its run of The Fox on the Fairway. No doubts the show will continue to improve its game.

REVIEW:
The Theatre Gym
The Fox on the Fairway by Ken Ludwig
Runs December 15–31, 2011 (Reviewed Thursday, Dec. 15)
Just Off Broadway Theatre
3051 Central St., Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-235-6222 or online at theatregym.org

Top Photo: Cast of The Fox on the Fairway (Photo by Bob Compton Photography)

By Jessica Showers

Theatre Contributor

Jessica Showers, a long-time believer in the collaborative power of the performing arts, is a Midwest native and Kansas City-based arts journalist. She is on the editorial board for The Sondheim Review, a quarterly magazine dedicated to the work of renowned composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Jessica received a master's degree in arts journalism with a focus in theatre from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and a bachelor's degree in magazine journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. As part of her graduate coursework, Jessica partnered with Charleston, S.C.'s daily paper The Post and Courier to cover theatre at Spoleto Festival USA. She also interned in New York City for American Theatre magazine and for Syracuse Stage, Syracuse, N.Y.'s local LORT theatre organization. Jessica looks forward to delving into Kansas City's wealth of theatricality and sharing it with KCM's readers.

Comments(1):

1. end of show

   Jessica, thank you for the review. Just FYI, Ludwig writes those high-speed recap endings into each of his farce scripts.

   Monday, December 26, 2011 Herman