Charley's Aunt draws laughs and grins

Short of Shakespeare, Charley's Aunt is one of the oldest plays you'll ever see on a Hopkins stage. First performed in 1892 in London, Brandon Thomas' farce is a classic comedy that includes sharp-tongued butlers, men in drag and even a fair bit of slapstick.

The show was performed last weekend at the Swirnow Theater by the Johns Hopkins University Theatre, starring a collection of the regular members of John Astin's acting troupe. Astin directed and co-starred in the play, along with students and two other professional actors.

The play begins in the Oxford University apartment of two students, Charley (sophomore Anthony Blaha) and Jack (Loren Dunn). Both have recently fallen in love with their sweethearts and are trying to hatch a plan to propose to their beloveds, Kitty (senior Elissa Weissman) and Amy (sophomore Tania Hamod). Representative of their prurient times, Charley and Jack must fight to get even a couple of moments alone with these women, who are closely watched by their guardian Mr. Spettigue.

Both Blaha and Dunn gave energetic performances appropriate for a farce of this type. Blaha even managed to pull off a convincing British accent. Dunn's enthusiasm and stage presence helped propel the action forward. Weissman and Hamod lent their talents as the female interests for what were written as mostly one-dimensional parts. However, both performed with graceful aplomb.

The legendary Astin played the coy and witty Sir Francis, father of Jack, who reveals to his son early on that their financial standing is in trouble. After Charley discovers that his recently widowed Aunt, Donna Lucia, has inherited a fortune and is planning to visit them, Jack hatches a plan to set her up with his father. With his trademark grin, Astin adds a fair bit of excitement to any show and is able to work remarkably well with college-aged actors.

The scene-stealer of the show is Michael Levy, who as Lord Fancourt must pretend to be Charley's Aunt after she fails to show up for a meeting with the boys' two romantic interests. Levy plays the aunt for a majority of the show, dressed in the full Victorian-era regalia of a lady. Well-known for his work in the sketch-comedy group Throat Culture, Levy has honed impeccable comedic timing over the years and always manages to keep a straight face to heighten the funniest moments.

After the introduction of Levy, the play picks up some more steam, turning into a real comedy of mixed-up identities and romance too complicated to fully recount here. Jack and Charley become increasing jealous of Fancourt, who while dressed as a woman gets a lot of affection from Amy and Kitty. Sir Francis also falls for the gag, proposing to Fancourt, who rejects him on the spot in as delicate a manner as possible. Even Mr. Spettigue, (the professional Jonas Grey), falls for Fancourt's aunt, chasing him around endlessly in a hilarious sequence.

Eventually the real Donna Lucia (the professional Debra Whitfield) arrives, accompanied by the lady servant Ela (junior Elspeth Kursh). After discovering her imposter, she declines to reveal her true identity until the very end of the play. In the meanwhile, Fancourt (still playing the Aunt) secures a letter for the release of Kitty and Amy from Spettigue's control and finally abandons his female disguise.

At the requisite happy ending, four marriages are hatched: Jack and Kitty, Charley and Amy, Lord Fancourt and Ela, and Sir Francis and the real Donna Lucia.

A special mention also goes to sophomore Praem Phulwani, who as Brassett the butler participated in some humorous interplays with his frugal employers, Jack and Charley.

For a play that is over a century old, it has, for the most part, aged remarkably well and retains a comedic appeal to mainstream audiences. However, at certain times the play clearly showed its age, with some scenes that were quite dull and some jokes that were just too simple-minded for the age of Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Daily Show.

Unique for a play of this type, Charley's Aunt was staged in a central square stage surrounded on all four sides by spectators. While this arrangement provided for an interactive show, with characters rushing in and out from all corners, it didn't seem to be imperative to the play. The faces of actors were inevitable blocked at different points, (depending on where they happened to be oriented), which left me aching to see the actors' expressions at several crucial moments. The play could have been done just as effectively if it had been staged in a more traditional stage set-up, facing the audience on one side only.

For a play that was produced in a very short three weeks, Charley's Aunt, represents the growing promise that Astin's Johns Hopkins University Theatre has to offer.