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Theatre & Box Office Articles Review |
Reprinted with permission of The Post Tribune. Empowerment through 'Underpants' Steve Martin can stretch a joke about underpants and turn it into an engaging story of female empowerment. Martin’s wackiness, warmth, and philosophical intellect are evident on stage in “The Underpants,” his adaptation of an edgy, 1911 German farce. Martin’s clever comedy opens tonight at Chicago Street Theatre in Valparaiso. In this silly tale, Louise, a German housewife, has a humiliating experience when she stretches to catch a glimpse of the king at a parade, and her underpants accidentally drop. Theo, Louise’s stick-in-the-mud husband, only cares what effect this strange event might have on his reputation as a civil servant. Louise just assumes nobody noticed her because Theo, her Archie-Bunkerish spouse, constantly berates her, and says, “You’re just an ordinary housewife!” Louise discovers she is anything but an ordinary housewife when men chase after her because she is the “woman with the famous underpants.” Theo is so self-absorbed he can’t see his wife is changing because she is finally realizing she has power over men, and she’s not afraid to use it. The play features Patty Bird and Andy Urschel as Louise and Theo. John Evans, as Versati, and Dan Matern, as Cohen, create many of the play’s comical moments, as they eagerly try to seduce Louise right under her clueless husband’s nose. Stephany Mullen, as Gertrude, Louise’s catty neighbor, keeps pushing Louise to take a walk on the wild side. Of course, to make this comedy fly is not as simple as it looks. It’s Steve Martin. It’s a farce with three-dimensional characters, and most of all, it is hysterically funny. This is a play with “weiner jokes,” tightly wound German characters, and also lost souls with pathetic longings. Traci Brant and Jonni Pera decided to co-direct this comedy because they have always loved Martin’s smart writing. “You can see Steve Martin delivering any of these lines,” Pera says. “It’s one of those scripts,” Brant says, “that makes you laugh out loud at every page.” “The Underpants” is grounded in its unique characters. “What makes Steve Martin great is, he has a lot of fun with his characters,” Pera says. “Each character has a different little quirk, and it’s always fun for the actors to explore their characters. The characters are put in a situation that centers around something so silly and fun as underpants. He uses something as simple as underpants to change people’s lives.” The directors enjoy helping their actors bring the characters to life. “You have to help the characters find the quirks and fun in their characters,” Pera says. “You can’t just give them free reign. The staging has to be precise, so everything fits together, and the scenes clip along. All of the characters have their place in Steve Martin’s plays. You get to see everyone’s point of view by the end of the play.” In Martin’s silly moments, he often makes a statement on humanity, and in this case, the women come out ahead. “Steve Martin is making a statement — men don’t give the women the credit they deserve,” Brant says. “If you look at this play, the women have more of an awakening, while the men are bumbling characters. The women are not mousy at all. They manipulate the men.” Of all the characters, Louise goes through the most interesting transformation. Patty Bird, who portrays Louise, says she has to pay attention to every scene, or she will miss a moment in Louise’s journey. “The whole play is based on one incident, and how all the actors respond to that incident,” Bird says. “You really have to react to the other actors, and be a good listener in this role.” Of course, the underpants incident is a catalyst for Louise to wake up and gain the upper hand in her life and marriage. “She’s bored with her marriage,” Bird says. “It isn’t what she thought it would be. As she starts to get attention from men, she really evaluates herself as a person, and becomes a lot stronger. Theo and Louise have a real marriage by the end of the play.” Bird says she is trying to keep Louise real. Otherwise, she says, the comedy falls flat. “I feel comedies are harder to do than dramas,” Bird says. “You can’t just play the funniness in the line. That doesn’t show respect for the audience. You have to play the lines in real life. If you stay true to Steve Martin’s script, the humor is going to jump right out.” Pera feels privileged to direct Martin’s heartfelt work. “I love being able to take a journey with our actors, and create a piece of art that the audience is going to enjoy,” she says. “You don’t have to think and gnash your teeth over this play. You just have to come out and have a good time. “That’s what I like about Martin’s writing,” Bird says. “You can take out of it whatever you like.” |
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