A Flea In Her Ear

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

If there is any question anywhere concerning Kent Thompson’s directional talent, a flea takes care of that in no uncertain terms. The new artistic director for the Denver Center Theatre Company, Thompson proves his mettle with a flea, an ear, and a highly complicated play flaunting honest “funny.” Thompson came into the DCTC powerfully tickling everyone’s imagination with his vision. The proof, however, always remains in the pudding. In this case, the proof remains in how high the flea can kick up a hilarious storm of rambunctious hilarity of jumping to conclusions, misunderstandings, and mistaken identities in Georges Feydeau’s brilliant French farce, A Flea In Her Ear.

Bill Christ as Augustin Feraillon and Sam Gregory as Carlos Homenides de Histangua in the Denver Center Theatre Company’s season opening production of A Flea In Her Ear. Georges Feydeau’s hilarious French bedroom farce Photo by Terry Shapiro

Feydeau and French farce walk the theatrical road arm in arm. While living the good life in Paris in the early 1900s, Feydeau swam in the creative channel of seeing through the public and private façade that came to be known as La Belle Epoque. Society was highly concerned with being the right people at the right time, looking good, acting good, while privately the fleas had a hey day.

Raymonde Chandebise’s (Kathleen McCall) flea nibbles at her ear when her husband Victor Emmanuel (Jamie Horton) finds excuses for not making love to her. Raymonde’s flea tells her it has to be because he is having a torrid affair. There is no other reason. The truth is he is impotent as he confides to Dr. Finache, (Randy Moore).

Raymonde determined to find out who shares Victor Emmanuel’s love nest concocts a scheme with an old friend, Lucienne Homenides de Histangua, (Angela Pierce). Lucienne writes a note for Raymonde to Victor Emmanuel enticing him to meet her at the rather dubious Hotel Cog D’Or. Victor Emmanuel cannot believe the letter is meant for him, deciding it was meant for the suave Romain Tournel, (John Hutton), who holds a not so secret lusting for Raymonde.

There is a fine line, at times, between real farce and pure slapstick. When farce crosses the line and is played for the laughs, it quickly loses its honest hysterical cutting edge. This production doesn’t lose anything but adds to the status and quality of the extraordinary cast. With straight faces and exaggerated gestures, they produce one laugh after another on the gorgeous white marbled set designed by Scott Weldin for the drawing room of the Chandebise’s. During act II, the stage magically turns into the hotel with its dubious but obvious reputation with a revolving room and almost as many doors as there are actors who race in and out with superb and precise timing.

Confusion tramples confusion when Victor Emmanuel turns out to be a dead ringer for the hotel’s slaphappy drunken bellboy, Poche. A longtime, and rightfully so favorite at DCTC, Horton pushes his incredible talent to the edge playing both roles.

Hutton, another longtime DCTC favorite, wears the debonair handsome bachelor, Romain, with finesse and his questionable motives on his fluctuating eyebrows.

Kathleen Brady nearly stops the show when she enters with her high obnoxious hair, and big skirts as Olympe.

It is Douglas Harmsen as Camille Chandebise with a speech impediment preventing him from pronouncing consonants that nearly steals the show. Not only is his character very funny, making his lines extremely hilarious, it is a marvel to watch him with his innocent excitable stance never missing a beat.

Stephanie Cozart’s Antoinette Plucheux, a maid, flirts openly with goosing fingers for anyone wearing pants. Her timing and fun-laced spirit is sheer joy.

Erik Sandvoid as the butler, Etienne Plucheux, and Antoinette’s husband, wears the tongue in cheek proper butler demeanor while having a most difficult time pretending to maintain butler control. He has an impossible job, and he holds the impossibility tightly to his chest without cracking a smile.

The fiery, emotional Spaniard, Carlos Homenides de Histangua, deliciously played by Sam Gregory, recognizes his wife’s handwriting in the bogus note causing his trigger finger to itch more than the flea in Raymonde’s ear. Carlos completes a hat trick with Etienne that nearly stops the show in its tracks, exemplifying the perfected timing in this production.

Bill Christ wholeheartedly amuses as the Hotel’s proprietor, trying so hard to convince himself he runs an elegant show place of the highest degree, while reality runs amuck at his feet.

The characters of Baptistin rambunctiously molded by Philip Pleasants, and Herr Schwartz executed by Mark Rubald go beyond funny and entertaining into a world of “funtertainment,” leaving the rubs hurting.

With this madcap whirlwind production that keeps the characters running full speed ahead to cover up and uncover whatever or whoever happens to be in their way, Thompson has stretched the integrity of DCTC beyond imagination. And to think this is only the beginning. Feydeau has to be proud that his frequent gentle, often acerbic perception of life as he lived it, life as he saw it in pre WWI France could be replicated to perfection nearly 100 years after his blazoned pen scratched a flea onto paper.

The stage is set, the standard high for one of the funniest, daunting, exhilarating, awesome productions I have ever had the privilege to experience.