On Stage: “Theatre People”

Photos: T. Charles Erickson

Theatre People

Westport Country Playhouse’s artistic director Marc Shanahan stages his final season-of-laughter production — “Theatre People” — adapted by Paul Slade Smith, who was inspired by Ferenc Molnar’s 1924 Hungarian farce, “The Play at the Castle.”

Reimagined in vintage 1948 glamour, it’s actually a play within a play, concocted by married playwrights Charlotte and Arthur Sanders (Isabel Keating and Michael McCormick), who view the Newport mansion they’re currently visiting as a theater setting. That ignites an initial discussion as to which part of James J. Fenton’s elegant bedroom set is the ‘third wall,’ designating the audience.

They’re accompanied by neophyte novelist Oliver Adams (Rodolfo Soto), whose romantic tale they envision as their next Broadway hit. Problem is: timid Oliver hasn’t signed the publishing contract with Simon & Schuster because he’s nervous about how the love of his life, singer Margot Ball (Mia Pinero), will react.

Mischievous complications arise when Charlotte, Arthur and Oliver overhear an innuendo-laden conversation between Margot and her lover, dim-witted baritone Victor Pratt (Michael McCorry Rose), in the adjoining bedroom.

Merriment is heightened by the repeated appearances of Olga (Erin Noel Grennan), an outspoken Eastern European maid who is contemptuous of “theatre people.”

While Isabel Keating propels the plot twists and parody inherent in the screwball comedy, arm-flapping Michael McCorry Rose exudes madcap physical humor. Michael McCormick brings superb comedic timing to his exasperation; Rodolfo Soto exudes a shy, innocent earnestness as Mia Pinero plays along.

But it’s Erin Noel Grennan, who steals the show as surly, dour Olga; her husband, playwright Paul Slade Smith, has written her the role of a lifetime.

Adroitly directed by Marc Shanahan, this fast-paced play is the kind of sophisticated, frivolous froth that appeals to audiences seeking amusing, escapist entertainment.