London Suites

Critiqued by Holly Bartges

If hotel suites could only talk.  Ever thought of that? I have. Who comes? Who goes? In all actuality, it is indubitably best that information remains confidential, but always fun to ponder.

Neil Simon not only pondered it, but also threw it into the mix of his imagination. Out came London Suites nestling onto the Denver Victorian Playhouse stage with a “welcome home you belong” demeanor.

Darius Fatemi and Zach Cantor in Victorian Playhouse production of London Suites Photo Credit: Dell Domnik

Basically four one-act plays, London Suites highlights four character-sculptured scenarios inhabiting the same London hotel suite. Although not Simon’s greatest piece of work hanging fire with shades of his earlier plays California Suites and Plaza Suites, London Suites plays with the curious thought of who comes and who goes and why. If hotel suites could only tell their story. They can’t, but Simon lends a hand accompanied with the Simon “signatured” one-liners.

Robert Kramer provides his expertise in directing, and Wade P. Wood, Executive Producer, designed the inviting set. A pleasant upscale hotel room with a bedroom and sitting room divided by a half wall providing the playground for the four one-acts.  

Act I, scene I Settling Accounts features Wood as Brian and Dell Domnik as Billy. Friends for several years, Billy served as the well-known highly successful writer’s manager. Just as Billy is about to depart for Buenos Aries, Brian discovers his bank account has been cleaned out. (Ah, shades of today’s pseudo financial wizards.)

The chemistry between Wood and Domnik is sheer magic bringing the well worn, scenario to natural life. No matter how many times this piece has been played, Wood and Domnik kick it into humorous life. A big shot writer with eight books under his belt, and a TV movie rights hanging fire, Wood plays Brian as the smart suave man about town with an air of smooth confidence. Domnik turns the loyal puppy dog Billy into a back seat insecure nervous human being thinking he is smarter than he looks. Brian, so it seems, has one down fall. He never paid any attention to his financial status. He didn’t have to. Billy took care of everything.  Billy took care of everything all right. The playing and prying one-ups-man-ship between Brian and Billy falls into the natural chemistry between Wood and Domnik. Their timing does Simon justice, which is not always an easy trick.  All too often, productions of Simon’s plays go for the hysterical one-liners, forgetting characters are people too, something greater than one-dimensional paper dolls. Wood and Domnik turn Brian and Billy into living, breathing human beings. The one-liners are just part of their natural conversation. They are the ones who make the moments very funny, rather than putting the heavy weight on the words from a printed page.  Funny how funny works that way.  Wood and Domnik get that.

Kellie Rae Rockey and Jan Cleveland in Victorian Playhouse production of London Suites Photo Credit: Dell Domnik

Kellie Rae Rockey and Jan Cleveland bring warm identifiable smiles in Scene 2 in Going home as Lauren Semple and her mother, Grace Chapman, a widow.   They’ve been on a shopping spree, buying mostly shoes, and it’s their last night before flying home to America. Rockey and Cleveland connect beautifully as Lauren and Sheryl bringing to life a mother-daughter conversation held thousands, if not millions, of times every year.  A wealthy unmarried Scotsman invites Sheryl to a play. Should she, should she not accept? Does she have a right to get involved with someone else? Does she even have a right to her own life? She goes, with humor in tact, discovering there is more to a relationship than money. The humor warm and gentle, Rockey and Cleveland bring the two off the page filling them with four-dimensional human realness. The Scotsman may be wealthy, but particular circumstances leave much to be desired. As Lauren and Sheryl open up to each other, a secret slips out, that appears not to be much of a secret at all. Rockey and Cleveland bring the moment home.

Joe Wilson and Julie Hansen in Victorian Playhouse production of London Suites Photo Credit: Dell Domnik

Act II, Scene 1 takes a more compassionate view than comedic approach. It brings a smile not of laughter but of warmth with Diana & Sidney.  Julie Hansen takes on Diana, an actress who comes to London to promote her long-time running television series, and to meet up with her divorced bi-sexual husband, Sidney (Joe Wilson) who now lives in the Greek island, Mykonos with his lover, a sculptor who is dying of lung cancer. Financial assistance is needed. When Sidney tells her she hasn’t an unflattering line in her face, she tells him, “They’re all tucked behind my ears now. From the back I look 86”. It is clear the two continue to share a love even though there’s this something that came between them. Something is not quite right with the financial request. Sidney angry and worried, constantly mopping his forehead, commenting he’s chilled, brings Diana to a halt. Boni McIntyre playing Grace Chapman, Diana’s assistant counterbalances with humor of her own. The three drop their real identities at the stage door and give Diana, Grace, and Sidney full attention, allowing it to become a more important piece than what is taken off the page.

The fourth playlet in the series, The Man On The Floor turns slapstick, standing out of kilter with the other three and losing punch. Mark (Brian Brooks) and Annie (Dana Hart) Ferris have come to London from New York to attend Wimbledon. No sooner have they arrived, the treasured tickets come up missing. A three-ring helter skelter circus takes flight. In the panicked madness, Mrs. Sitgood (McIntyre) in strict business-like fashion informs them they need to change rooms because Kevin Costner has arrived, and always has this particular room. It would be quite easy for them to move out of Room 402 into 422, but they won’t. The room is being torn apart while searching for the tickets. Madness takes over. Mrs. Sitgood becomes more and more insistent.  McIntyre is brilliant.

Zachery Cantor and Josh Brown share the Bellman’s role. The night I was there, Cantor took the role and turned it into a major player. Asked to help with the suitcases, Cantor’s Bellman takes it upon himself to go through them in the quiet of the bedroom. The antics with Annie’s underwear are worth the price of admission.  Cantor and McIntyre bring forth legitimate giggles. This could have been a very funny piece, but the overindulgence of slapstick, emphasizing funny for the sake of funny turns it into an over done free-for-all with very little room for laughter, except for Cantor and McIntyre.

It’s too bad The Man On The Floor wasn’t reversed with Diana & Sidney. It would have created a more conducive ending. Nevertheless, The Victorian Playhouse does justice to Simon’s way of thinking, resonating with us all. Don’t miss. As for the Man On The Floor, forget the over zealous silliness, and enjoy McIntyre and the Bellman.

London Suite
By Neil Simon; Directed by Robert Kramer