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Servant of Two Masters Delivers Nonstop Gags To The Point Of Exhaustion The laughs come so frenzied and snorting in Seattle Shakespeare Company's wacky The Servant of Two Masters, you can feel yourself vibrating as you leave.
Those who saw Intiman Theatre's mannered staging of Carlo Goldoni's 18th-century Italian farce in 2001 will recognize little in this raucous version. Jeffrey Hatcher's contemporary adaptation is as American as corn and as corny as an Iowa summer, recasting the stock characters of the commedia dell'arte into a vaudeville troupe. The lark begins when the Master of Revels (a bloviating Shawn Belyea) discovers that they have prepared the wrong show, and commands the actors to improvise using early film stars as their models, adding their own special "talents." So, the young lovers (David Goldstein and Emily Chisholm) imitate a clumsy Douglas Fairbanks and a neurotic Mary Pickford, the pompous doctor (Stephen Grenley) dresses as W.C. Fields and the naughty innkeeper (Katjana Vadeboncoeur) primps as Mae West. Chris Ensweiler leads the pack as Truffaldino, who tries to earn two paychecks by serving both the masquerading Beatrice (Deborah Fialkow in suit and mustache) and her lost lover, Florindo (dapper Connor Toms). Ensweiler pairs Buster Keaton's stone-faced physicality with Robin Williams' verbal volleying as he pursues the maid Smeraldina (a magnificently wry Kerry Ryan). Director Dan McCleary keeps the gags coming in a constant barrage full of local references, and by plugging the names of audience members into the script the show delivers a rollicking good time. |