Organized chaos: The farce of Boeing Boeing

ASK ANY PROFESSIONAL ACTOR AND HE OR SHE WILL tell you: comedy is hard.

COURTESY PHOTO Deanna Gibson, Christina Lynn Philips and Rachel Lomax in “Boeing- Boeing.” And farce is particularly difficult.

“There are other comedies,” says actor

Brendan Powers. “There are the comedies of Noel Coward, a comedy of words and manners. With good farce, people know that usually means scantily clad women, sexual adventures, doors slamming, people running up and down.”

And there’ll be plenty of that in “Boeing-Boeing,” the farce that opens Florida Repertory Theatre’s 12th season Oct. 30.

The play, written by Marc Camoletti and adapted by Beverly Cross, was listed in the “Guinness Book of Records” in 1991 as the most-performed French play throughout the world. It was first staged in London, where it ran for seven years, from 1962 through 1965. It was revived in London in 2007 and received two Olivier nominations for Best Revival and Best Actor.

COURTESY PHOTO Deanna Gibson and Mark Chambers in “Boeing-Boeing.” “Boeing-Boeing” first played on Broadway in 1965, closing after only 23 performances. But a successful 2008 revival received numerous Tony nominations and won Tony Awards for Best Revival of a Play and Best Leading Actor (Mark Rylance). It also received a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play and for Lead Actor in a Play.

Mr. Powers plays Bernard, a successful architect living in Paris in the ’60s. He’s engaged to three different stewardesses, and, due to careful juggling of their schedules, lives with all three.

“It’s an incredibly unique situation,” he says. “There’s a lot of love in this show. The sex is in a way being curtailed by all the shenanigans, obstacles that come up, but it’s hard to get to, with all the complications.

CACIOPPO “It’s passionate. The three fiancées are all different nationalities: the romantic Italian, the passionate German, the fanatical American. The three of them are all wildly passionate for Bernard, and I am equally passionate for them.”

Mr. Powers describes his character as a man of his times who’s enjoying life tremendously.

“It’s fun. It’s a unique role. He has a ‘What? Me Worry?’ attitude,” he says. “He has a system down to a T. None of them know the others exist, yet they’re all sharing the same apartment.”

And then, airline technology improves. And with the introduction of Boeing 707s, the women’s schedules change. They arrive sooner than expected, or later. And they stay longer.

“It’s a good farce in the sense, that, like any good comedy, the audience should delight in the characters’ dilemma,” Mr. Powers says. “In comedy it’s like, let’s watch what happens next. As soon as the play begins, the setup is established. Bernard thinks this system is down to a T. We know it’s going to fall apart, we just don’t know how or when. “

The play is an ensemble piece. Mr. Powers’ fiancées are played by Deanna Gibson, Rachel Lomax and Christina Lynn Phillips. Mark Chambers portrays his friend Robert. And the maid, who tries to keep order in the household, is played by Carrie Lund.

“I’m happy to do this show with Mark Chambers,” Mr. Powers says. “Mark is a brilliant comic, a well-rounded actor, and has such powerful comedic instincts. He understands the dynamics of setting up jokes. To watch him work is a good opportunity for us. He’s been doing this for years.

“It’s a real boon to have someone like him in the group,” said Mr. Powers.

“The three women playing the airline hostesses, are all three actresses with the Rep before. What they’re bringing to their unique nationalities is just as much fun too. Such variety, not only visually, with their different costumes, but they all have their own unique accents.

“And Carrie Lund plays Bertha the French maid, she’s trying to keep tabs on things, and is a fantastically stoic character to this whole crazy thing.”

The trickiest thing with farce, director Robert Cacioppo keeps reminding them in their rehearsals, is that it has to be organized chaos.

“If it breaks into genuine chaos, we’re in trouble,” Mr. Powers says. “As crazy and physically demanding and visually chaotic it is for an audience, with the ups and downs and ins and outs and comings and goings of characters, the actors have to be sure they have control of it.”

The director reminds them that if they want to make something funnier, they have to slow it down, which is an adage in comic situations, Mr. Powers says. If they rush something too much, the clarity of the moment will be lost.

“In one comic bit, there can be three or four very specific glances,” he explains. “He looks at her and she looks at someone else and they look at me. There’s a lot of little business that goes into it. If you’re going at 100 miles an hour, those little moments will get lost. You have to understand the chaotic craziness of it, but internally enough to understand each one of those little steps.

“For any actor doing farce, the nature of it is like a hurricane. You want to have complete control of the chaos, of what’s happening.”

There have been plenty of instances in other farces where actors have gotten hurt, actually falling down stairs, or getting their hand shut in a door that’s slammed, he says.

“It’s a pacing thing,” he says. “You have to understand the frantic dynamic that it calls for. But internally, you have to have it all under control. Organized chaos. The audience will see chaos. They won’t see the actors at work.

“Someone gave me the analogy of the clowns at the Ice Capades. They do ridiculously funny things on ice, playing goofballs, kooks. They fall on the ice. Those skaters are some of the most accomplished skaters in the company, because they have such control of the craft, they’re able to do all sorts of silly, crazy things. They don’t get hurt because they know exactly what they’re doing.”

Doing farce presents certain challenges to actors, he says.

“You’re always thinking of fresh approaches, new ways, what can I bring to this? It’s also a great exercise just for any actor to practice this type of comedy. How do you play hysterical and frantic, but underneath stay calm and cool and understand what you’re doing?”

It’s a great show to launch Florida Rep’s 12th season, he says, because it’s bound to make people laugh.

“It’s a well-written farce,” he says. “This is a brilliantly written piece. And I think it might be fun for people to say, ‘Let’s go to the theater and watch someone else’s problems. I’ll watch this guy scramble around and try to make sense of everything, how to keep life sane.’”

Mr. Powers, known for his roles in Florida Rep’s “Doubt” and “Dancing at Lughnasa,” has performed in farces before. He’s played in “Noises Off,” which he calls “one of the top five or so farces” and in an Alan Ayckbourn farce.

“I’ve flirted around in this world (of farce) a little bit,” he says. “It never ceases to be challenging, but that’s what makes it fun, trying to keep that sort of organized chaos.” 

if you go

>> What: Boeing-Boeing
>> When: Oct. 30-Nov. 21 (special discounted
previews Oct. 27-29)
>> Where: Florida Repertory Theatre, in the
Arcade Theatre on Bay Street between Jackson
and Hendry
>> Cost: $38 and $42, with preview tickets
$20 and $25
>> Information: 332-4488 or www.FloridaRep.
org n
Florida Repertory Theatre’s 12th season
>> Boeing-Boeing
Oct. 30-Nov. 21
>> Dial “M” for Murder
Dec. 4-Dec. 20
>> The Santaland Diaries
Dec. 10-31
>> Opus
Jan. 8-24
>> You Can’t Take it With You
Feb. 5 -21
>> Relatively Speaking
March 12-28
>> Trying
April 9-25
>> The Big Bang
May 7-23