The Show Off

Critiqued by Holly Bartges

He’s a loud mouth, self-deluded, insufferable know-it-all demanding to be the constant center of attention. If he invaded your living room, he’d send you into the bedroom screaming into your pillow. Fortunately, he isn’t. There’s a barricade between you and him. Because of the barricade, screaming into your pillow isn’t necessary. The fourth wall stands between you and him, turning him into a hilarious laugh-out-loud wondrous being.

Lori Hansen and Travis W. Boswell in Germinal Stage Denver's production of The Show-Off

His name: Aubrey Piper initially created by George Kelly in 1924, and brought to incredible life by Travis W. Boswell at Germinal Stage Denver’s carefully thought out production of The Show Off, directed and designed by Ed Baierlein.

Kelly had his pulse on human nature and loved to satirize self-important nauseating personages who seem to invade our lives at one point or another.

A businessman, Aubrey clings to every intention to point out however, and whenever he can, he knows it all, and no one has to even ask. The remarkable consistency Boswell lends to Aubrey is almost as astonishing as the character. With exaggerated expressions constantly changing, Boswell doesn’t miss a beat. He ushered Aubrey into his energy, and the smart-alecky, ego centered show off eagerly accepted. From a distance, he’s a riot; from a distance he creates consistent laughability.

The Fishers have a problem. They can’t just lock their doors and turn off the lights pretending to not be home. Their daughter, Amy proves once more love is blind having fallen in love with him. She sees him as a daunting, dashing cavalier, and a knight in shining armor. Jennifer Anne Forsyth knows and understands Amy, giving her an honest sense of who Amy is. Captivated by love, Amy comprehends her family’s uneasiness, attempting to make sure she keeps him in another part of the Fisher home. She tries her best, although the effort doesn’t always work. Sensitive to Mrs. Fisher’s raw nerves with the presence of Aubrey anywhere in sight, Amy tries hard to sooth the savage thrust inside her mother’s gracious but rattled approach. Lori Hansen grabs Mrs. Fisher by the heart and throat with a stunning performance. Hansen’s facial muscle manipulation serves her well with this woman who would like to run screaming wildly out of the room but manages to maintain her gracious hostess role. Her expressions tell the story that everyone can read except for Aubrey. He’s far too consumed with jocular show “offness”.

Although he’s only a clerk among many for the railroad, he convinces Amy he is a supervisor over many. Money is tight, and the practical, narrow minded but wise Mrs. Fisher tries to warn her lovesick daughter not to get too serious for fear he wouldn’t be able to support her, Amy refuses to hear the truth, and marries Aubrey anyway.

Mrs. Fisher knows the truth because her daughter Clara Hyland, deliciously and captivatingly played by Suzanna Wellens, heard the truth from her husband, Frank, grandly played by Paul Caouette, who lunches at the same restaurant Aubrey does. Caouette knows Frank inside an out. He played Frank 30 years ago in GSD’s production of The Show Off.

The Fisher’s son Joe spends most of his time in the basement tinkering with electronic devices, wanting to invent something useful. One day he will, he just knows it. Even though he runs up against blockades he can’t seem to break through, his determination carries him forward. A creative enchantment surrounds Joe, even though his practical mother frequently shows tinges of irritation over his basement life, he demonstrates a talent for smoothing ruffled feathers. Patrick Mann lends Joe energy, compassion, and single-minded diligence to solve the electronic bugs that keep cropping up.

Suzanna Wellens, Jennifer Anne Forsyth and Lori Hansen in Germinal Stage Denver's production of The Show-Off

After marriage Amy learns the truth and secretly borrows money from her already strapped mother while openly digging at her sister’s growing wardrobe, who in turns digs back. Sibling rivalry was alive and well even then.

economics get tighter, a subject our culture is highly familiar with, the horrific possibility of Amy and Aubrey having to move into the Fisher household smacks Mrs. Fisher sharply in the face. Whatever on earth will they do? However could they survive if worse comes to worse?

Something Aubrey says during one of his flamboyant monologues, grabs Joe’s attention, allowing him to solve a problem, taking him to a place where an invention works, Will the Powers That Be take advantage of him, as he is warned, giving him little credit, much less money?

Sallie Diamond’s keen eye for costuming fits well the actors capturing each character’s personality and style.

Kelly’s masterful command of brilliant dialogue and Baierlein’s ability to ingratiate the cast into delicate humorous timing places the satiric Show Off in a position of high desirability with its implanted look at human values in a rocky economic atmosphere. It’s timing is perfectly placed in a social climate of hope, economic anxiety, and “Holi-Daze” supported by a nifty cast of artistic expertise, coaxing appreciated hearty laughter. Don’t Miss. It works and it fits into the climate. After the laughter subsides, and the rhyme and reason sinks in, The Show Off may even give rise to what’s important and what isn’t through its brilliant satiric slant. In the Show Off practicality meets compassion head on. Both win, even though the last line from Mrs. Fisher is “God help us all.”

The Show Off
The Twenties Comedy
By George Kelly