By Jason and Alisha Hagey
To start the Pioneer Theatre Company’s season, PTC decides to go big, brash, and hilariously over-the-top in Stephen Wrentmore’s (Director & Adaptor) adaptation of Molière’s Scapin. While two controlling mothers are out of town planning for their sons’ betrothals, the sons ignore all advice and fall in love with other women. Despite the best hopes of the scheming matrons, love has other ideas. When they return home from their travels, the sons run to the servant Scapin for help. Buffoonery erupts in a farce filled with laughs, giggles, side-splitting silliness, and a codpiece to be envied.
Kate Middleton (Scapin) is fearless, quick-witted, and dynamic as the roguish servant. She leaps about the stage with abandon. Her portrayal is brilliant, dynamic, and unexpectedly graceful. Middleton’s verbal gymnastics are skillful, tackling not only a need to keep ahead of the action but also a myriad of voices and accents with aplomb.
As dynamic as the outfit he wears, Xavier Reyes (Sylvestre) is fun and expressive. Reyes pushes the limits of his physicality to light up the stage with his vibrant personality. He has a beautiful balance between bawdy and bashful which is almost unbelievable. Reyes is a clown – in the best sense – and possesses a delicate ability to be both ridiculous and sympathetic. The aforementioned codpiece scene is where Reyes shines bright and is well worth the wait – the scene is a standout from the rest of the play.
The double-trouble matriarchs Celeste Ciulla (Arganta) and Sofia Jean Gomez (Géronta) are equal parts stylish and screwball. Ciulla owns the stage when she appears. She is as colorful as her clothes, portraying a fabulous caricature of the uptight, controlling mother, with a plastic face perpetually in a sneer at the world. Gomez is fantastic. She is boundlessly looney and extravagant, and her comic timing is impeccable. Gomez switches between oaf and straight man in lightning-quick succession.
The lovers, Alex Walton (Octave), Andrea Morales (Hyacintha), Adrian Baidoo (Léandre), and Lucy Lavely (Zerbinette), provide the reason for the hilarity in the seaside landscape. Walton has a boyish charm and plays wonderfully upon every stereotype of the spoiled young man. Morales is openly emotionally manipulative in the funniest way. Baidoo captures every teenage boy trying to be cool but still a simpering child underneath. Lavely not only provides the quartet with a more grounded counterpart, but she’s also a fabulous singer and presence as part of “The Gypsies.”
The set and costumes are as much characters as the characters themselves. Yoon Bae’s (Scenic Design) work never ceases to amaze me. Having previously done the set and costumes for PTC’s The Messenger, Bae’s set is transformative in this production. Her subtle understanding of detail and color creates a palate equal to the performance itself. Brenda Van Der Wiel’s (Costume Design) choices for patterns and lines perfectly capture the awesome breadth and scope of the wild characters. Bae’s and Van Der Wiel’s work, in tandem, is a candy-colored, sweet feast for the eyes. It feels like a mash-up of the stylings of Twiggy mixed with panto. Samantha M. Wootten (Hair & Makeup Designer) gives the characters looks that are sheer pleasure. All of this is punctuated by Brian Tover’s (Lighting Design) lighting that sweeps through the stage in bright, playful hues, capturing La Dolce Vida. Adding a delightful sprinkle of brilliance are Bryce Robinette’s (Audio Engineer/Sound Designer) audio choices and lounge music reinterpretations of classic songs throughout the ages.
If you want to immerse yourself into a caricature of 1960s Naples, Wrentmore has the show for you. I imagine that if we had a peek into the rehearsal process, we would likely see Wrentmore saying, “Yes. Now make it even more flamboyant!” Never once does the show lose the extravagant exaggeration or forget its roots in commedia dell’arte. For laugh-out-loud fun, head to Pioneer Theatre Company. I promise you’ve never seen Molière quite like this. Take in the vibrancy of design, the delightful contemporary references, and all the bawdy hilarity of the harlequin running amuck on stage.
Content Advisory
Language: There is some mild language and a few innuendos
Rating: If this was a movie, Scapin would be rated “PG-13”
Pioneer Theatre Company presents Scapin by Molière and adapted by Stephen Wrentmore
Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112
September 16 – October 1, 2022
Tickets :
Main Floor/Loge $46 (day of show $51)
Back of Main Floor/Back of Loge $35 (day of show $40)
Contact: 801-581-6961
ASL-Interpreted Performance: Saturday, October 1st at 2:00pm
Pioneer Theatre Company’s Website
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