Plenty Of Laughs In 'Cash On Delivery'
<
Suspend your disbelief and leave your troubles at the doorstep for a really fun ride.
By Robert Coleman
Special To The Tribune
Tough economic times call for desperate measures. With daily headlines of corporate attempts to raid government resources and charges of political offices going to the highest bidder, a sense of outrage should trump a sense of humor.
But laughter reigned at the Hale Centre Theatre's production of "Cash on Delivery" Friday night in West Valley City. Ironically, it is a show about an unemployed East London landlord who bilks the government out of benefits owed to former tenants.
Did Hale Centre producers foresee the current financial meltdown or is it coincidence? At any rate, it felt good to laugh at the broadly painted characters in this British farce instead of cry about current reality.
Director Leslie Warwood's experienced local cast delivered a fine performance, which had some audience members wheezing from laughing so hard and others not as convinced. But it is fair to say that everyone found something to enjoy.
Cody K. Carlson's portrayal of Eric Swan, the manic, scheming architect of this larcenous house of cards seemed to be right out of Broadway actor Nathan Lane's playbook -- only with a pseudo British accent replacing Lane's Brooklyn tones.
Swan's criminal path started simply enough but snowballed out of control as each lie grew more elaborate to cover the previous one. Carlson's energetic execution of the script's intricate word play and timing was on the mark. His physical humor was also inexhaustible.
A visit from Mr. Jenkins, a Department of Social Security inspector, set off events of misunderstanding, misrepresentation and miscommunication that piled up until it seemed that the plot would suddenly capsize.
Zac Zumbrunnen as Jenkins was a good foil for Carlson's deception. Officious and gullible, he was soon befuddled and manipulated by Swan's increasingly outrageous lies -- not unlike the willing audience.
But the script's most satisfying moments were saved for Swan's soon-to-be wed tenant Norman McDonald, characterized skillfully by Justin Bruse. Bruse's high-pitched and slightly pinched voice had the crowd hanging on every word.
As Norman, he was deftly blackmailed into Swan's plot. At first appalled and slightly slow-witted about the matter, he quickly got the hang of prevarication and began spinning the truth quicker than a Washington P.R. consultant.
As more characters are drawn into the story, the mix-ups increased. At one point, Uncle George, played affably by Neal Barth, is thought to be three different people by various characters. His attempt at a British accent sounded more like a resident of Cabot Cove from "Murder She Wrote," but he proved to be a real trooper, surviving a beating from a swinging door, an out of control washing machine, and being thrown into the storage area under a window seat.
Other standouts were Michelle Linn Hall as Swan's less than amused wife, Linda, and Travis Hyer as Dr. Chapman, a milquetoast marriage counselor.
The rest of the HCT team of set designer Kacey Udy, costumes by Peggy Willis, sound designer Mike Williams, Light Designer Spencer S. Brown and hair and make-up designer Catherine Cripps enhanced the intimate theater-in-the-round experience.
If you go, leave inhibitions and critical scrutiny at the door and allow yourself to be taken for a ride by Swan and company's cunning cons.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Back to top »
