The Underpants

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

The cast of The Underpants shows their true colors.

Miners Alley Playhouse in collaboration with Hunger Artists Ensemble Theatre opened last weekend with Steve Martin’s adaptation of Carl Sternheim’s play The Underpants.

(L to R) Chris Bleau, Betsy Gargano and Paige Larson in The Underpants. Photo by Stacey Nelms

A combination of lapdog tongue hanging hysterics wrapped in a red ribbon of social commentary, The Underpants brims with “honest funny,” rib-tickling giggles, and delectable, delicious characters.

Standing alone, the script has to be funny because the situation is funny, and word master Steve Martin knows how to twist and play with verbalizations.

To lay this play on the boards requires sharp-edged artists who understand where to draw the line between putting the play over the top without allowing the ego to leak through slits in their characters.

Producer/Director Rick Bernstein designed a palatable set representing a working class apartment in Dusseldorf, Germany in the Springtime for the Kaiser in 1910.

The apartment belongs to Theo (Tom Salyers) and Louise (Betsy Gargano. Married almost a year, Betsy is the perfect wife, while duty oriented Theo falls short of being the perfect husband. Image and duty is his by-words. Now heÕs afraid he’s going to lose his job, for no other reason than at the morning parade for the King, Louise’s underpants falls around her ankle. Convinced, the King saw the incident, embarrassed by his wife, who tenderly shakes it off because she was discreet, Theo’s cage becomes rattled knowing the King will discover who he is and have him fired. Quick with a sharp critical tongue, Theo complains, while Louise rolls with the punches.

In one of her best roles ever, Paige Lynn Larson molds the nosey, intruding but loveable and caring upstairs neighbor, Gertrude, into a juicy tidbit desperately living vicariously through Louise who hears everything, knows everything hungering for more.

There’s more. Theo and Louise have a room to rent. Into their lives appears Frank Versati, (Chris Bleau) a poet in love with poetry giving Louise the impression he’s madly in love with her, Benjamin Cohen, (Dell Domnik) who insists Cohen is spelled with a K to ensure he is not Jewish, a sickly bearded desperate man, and Herr Klinglehoff (Pete Nelson) a staid, prim and proper gentleman whose initial appearance on stage, by himself, with whipped cream is a classic bit of comedy. These three desperate for the room have one thing in common, they witnessed the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen: Louise loosing her underpants.

Louise remains obedient and loyal to Theo, feeds Gertrude’s hunger with intimate thoughts, drools with undone passion for Versati, comforts the sickly Cohen with a K to his puppy dog in love delight, and warms to the proper gentleman Klinglehoff.

Chaos keeps the fast paced farcical dance at a polka clip; the outstanding cast maintains the clipped Germanic accent in line with the clashing points of view that stand out as a giraffe in a zoo or a giraffe in a metaphor with bouncing humor along with the growth of emancipation for both male and female. Hidden between the sniggles and giggles truth pokes its head from underneath the skirts.

The King isn’t forgotten or ignored, rolling onto stage toward the end with poetry in his heart and lust in his eyes given life and laughter by Bleau. Yes, he too saw the underpants fall. The awesome performances by the cast and the indelible events created by the characters turn Theo into a warm human being, Louise in love with the man she married, and Gertrude tongue-hanging happy.

Without question, The Underpants puts Miners Alley Playhouse over the top as one of the metropolitan area’s finest theatres. Brace the ribs in place, hang onto your underpants, but do not miss this show with precise direction, artists in motion, enchanting characters, and words flowing as gracefully as a giraffe’s neck.