Comedy culminates at 'A Flea'

Play in Latimer-Shaeffer Theatre provides laughter

As the audience sits in a darkened theater, the loud French music fades, the spotlights come on and the curtain is parted. The house gasps as they look upon an incredibly built sitting room.

This wasn't the only reaction the cast of "A Flea in Her Ear" received on opening night Tuesday.

Considered a French farce, the play used innuendoes, puns and physical humor to keep the audience rolling in the aisles.

"A Flea in Her Ear," written by Georges Feydeau, is a comedy set in France about a women and her friend trying to catch her husband in the act of cheating. The two women write a love letter to the "cheating" husband, and the play continues to unwind itself in a crazy mixed up manner.

Between insane characters and people speaking in Spanish, German or gibberish, one might think they would have a hard time following the story line, yet the story is easy to figure out. "It's amazing they can act like they do and we still know what is going on," audience member sophomore Gretchen Flack said.

The main themes are sex and trust. The play uses sex as a main source of humor and shows people on the brink of affairs. Everyone is allegedly cheating, but no one really is. This creates jealousy and an odd scene where everyone is trying to catch someone else cheating on them.

The actors' portrayal of the characters added to the humor. All members of the cast fit perfectly into their roles and had the poise of professional actors. Even when a door on the set would not open correctly, they managed to stay in character and play it off. According to senior Tim Bambara, who played Herr Schwarz, "Timing for the humor was difficult for this play. You always have to be on cue, because there is a lot of physical humor."

Sophomore Laura Lawrence, who played Lucienne Homenides de Histangua, agreed that the comedy was difficult. "It's such a long play that it's hard keeping the energy up," Lawrence said. "To capture the ridicule of it all you need energy for it to work."

Besides keeping the audience rolling in laughter, some of the technical aspects of the play made it something to remember.

"The elaborate costumes were nice, they really fit the period," freshman Corey Kisner said. Each actor wore clothing that appeared to have come straight from the early 1900s. Everything from their hats to their underwear fit the time.

The most amazing part of this play was the set design. According to set and lighting designer Richard Finkelstein, the set crew began working on the enormous set a month ago. "The set is amazing," junior Conner Fux said, who played Camille Chandebise. "It is incredibly elaborate and huge. It was a lot of work."

The crew created two sets. Each included several doors and entire walls. The second scene set had a ceiling as well. This show is Finkelstein's first at JMU. He said he based this design on a set he had used previously. He also used some ideas from a London production of this same play because of the unique traffic flow needed for the second scene. The second scene set included a small staircase and about seven doorways.

"A Flea in Her Ear" is running through Oct. 12 at 8 p.m. in Latimer-Shaeffer Theatre. Tickets are $8 for the general public and $6 with a JAC card.