Summary
Did I just say "luck"? Maybe it should be "nature's cruel design." The fact that both were covering the same ground should demonstrate to would-be playwrights that if you're considering writing a light romantic comedy about a young woman choosing between two young men, you'd better be really good because there's a lot of competition. It's my most reluctant duty to have to report that our playwrights -- James Sherman and his Beau Jest at Apple Hill Playhouse and David W. Dietz III with The Celestial Social Service at South Park Theatre -- have left the field open to that competition.
It's inhumane to pick on Sherman since his only intent is to create a mild divertissement; if it were just a half-hour one-act I could be induced to look the other way. But Sherman drags the thing out into three (albeit short) acts, and the illogic and manufactured contrivance of the plot and the characters pile up and up and up. Director Marge Kerr's achingly slow direction doesn't really deflect our attention from Sherman's flaws and the uneven performances aren't helping either. Ryan Foy, as the escort, has the charm and talent required for the part, though his energy could be bumped up several notches. Katie Kerr's forceful intelligence and strong self-possession are exactly the opposite of what's needed for the scattered and vulnerable [Sarah]; she's a fine actress who's been woefully miscast.See the full content of this document
Extract
Beau Jest/the Celestial Social Service
It looks like summer's finally here! And I can tell this not only by the weather ... but because I found myself in two summer theaters watching two stereotypically summer-theater plays. And, as luck would have it, both turned out to be li...
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