May the farce be with them at NTAC

Tom Titus

What may appear to be light and frothy on the surface, such as a racy

English farce, is actually deceptively complex in structure,

according to a director who’s well versed in the art form.

Terri Miller Schmidt, whose production of “Breath of Spring” opens

tonight at the Newport Theater Arts Center, points out that most of

the scenes in farcical comedy are “choreographed as well as blocked.”

It’s quite a demanding process.

“These actors work so hard at making a ‘moment’ that took two

hours to work through -- and plays out at maybe a minute -- look

absolutely truthful and real, and not complicated or absurd at all,”

she said.

Schmidt is hardly a stranger to farce. At Newport, she’s directed

two examples of the genre, “Funny Money” and “Not Now, Darling,”

while she also staged “Blithe Spirit” at another local playhouse.

Yet, she insists, “Breath of Spring” has a different “feel” to it

than the others.

“To me, there is a charmingly subtle difference,” the director

said. “There is infidelity, but no scantily clad maids running amok

and just a few moments of slamming doors. It’s more about the human

spirit’s need to have a purpose in life.”

In Peter Coke’s “Breath of Spring,” a group of law-abiding senior

citizens, brought together in the “teatime” of their lives, find that

breaking the law “just a little” can help and enrich others’ lives.

The show’s central character, Dame Beatrice, runs a boarding house

of “doddering, cranky, bored senior citizens,” Schmidt said. “As a

gift from a well-meaning ex-jailbird, she receives a stolen fur. In

their successful attempt at returning it to its rightful owner

without being caught, they realize what a great ‘gang’ they could be

to ‘do good.’

“Then they continue to steal furs from overly wealthy strangers,

who won’t ever miss an extra coat or two, sell them to a fence and

give the proceeds to charity.”

Sort of like the kindly old ladies in “Arsenic and Old Lace,”

without the lethal consequences.

The director’s fondness for the farcical genre is reinforced by a

comment from New Yorker magazine theater critic John Lahr: “Farce is

ruled by the law of momentum. At a certain speed, all things

disintegrate. At speed, panic substitutes for reason, characters are

pushed beyond guilt.

The joke at the heart of farce mayhem is that people state their

needs, but the other characters in their spectacular self-absorption,

don’t listen.

That’s the sort of entertainment on tonight’s menu at the Newport

Theater Arts Center. Schmidt, one of the area’s premier stage

directors, has attracted an impressive cast for her farcical

production, including Teri Ciranna, Judy O’Dea, Margaret VandenBerge,

Howard Patterson, Harriet Whitmyer, Theresa Ravnikar and Mitchell

Nunn.

“Breath of Spring” opens tonight at the Newport Theater Arts

Center theater, 2501 Cliff Drive, Newport Beach, and will play

through June 26 with curtain at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays

and 2:30 Sundays.

Tickets, at $15 each after opening night, may be ordered by

calling the theater at (949) 631-0288.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Fridays.