![Keith Savage (Robert), Katie Lawson (“America”) and James Kall (Bernard) in Boeing Boeing.[Submitted]](https://www.observerxtra.com/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/post_arts_boeing.jpg)
Buckle up and be sure to remain seated because Boeing Boeing, playing now at Drayton Entertainment’s Dunfield Theatre, is sure to be a bumpy – and hilarious – ride through one of the most beloved farces ever written.
Set in the “swinging ’70s,” the production tells the story of Bernard, a successful architect in Paris with a playboy streak.
Our Casanova has won the affections of three beautiful flight attendants with whom he is scheduled to be wed.
Despite the clear conflict of interest, everything is going swimmingly for Bernard, with his lovely ladies, Gloria, Gabrielle and Gretchen, also known as “America,” “Italy” and “Germany” coming and going on carefully planned schedules.
Turbulence is on the horizon though, when the Boeing Company introduces a faster airliner, and an old, unwitting, chum turns up at Bernard’s apartment.
“It’s a very funny play and the premise is very simple,” director Marcia Kash explained. It’s set in its period, so you must understand that. It’s a guy who lives in Paris and he has what he considers to be the ideal life. He has three fiancées and they are all air hostesses who are on different time tables and they fly for different airlines. And so one comes and the other one leaves and they don’t know about each other and he has a maid who helps facilitate his crazy lifestyle. And then his buddy, who he hasn’t seen in many years shows up and the time tables start to go awry and all the girls start to overlap one another and the buddy who doesn’t really know anything about this kind of life gets embroiled into all of this and has to save the day. Craziness ensues.”
The cast includes Drayton stalwarts Keith Savage as Robert (the friend), and James Kall as Bernard.
“Those two are very popular at Drayton and have done many shows there and the audiences know and love them,” Kash said. “The fantastic Valerie Boyle is also well loved and a great, great performer and she plays the maid which is another wonderful role.”
The three glamorous fiancées are played by Drayton newcomers Katie Lawson, as “America,” Sarah Mennell as “Italy,” and Jackie Mustakas as “Germany.”
The group has great chemistry, Kash said, which is so important in the farce genre.
“Farces are very special and technically very difficult. To make someone laugh is a very difficult thing to do. The key for me is truth. You have to believe (the story), as crazy as it gets and you’ve got to keep it honest.”
While farces are tough to pull off, they’re also the most rewarding, Kash said.
“I just love the challenge of creating a world that is a heightened reality, but still they are real people within a heightened situation – it’s great escapism.”
And Boeing Boeing hits the mark.
“The situation is very funny,” Kash said. “It has one of those crazy things that is hard to explain, but the audience is sort of ahead of it along the way. They know kind of what’s going to happen and it makes them complicit. It has a great tension to it because you can see what is going to happen and where it’s going to go and then there are also surprises along the way.”
Boeing Boeing plays the Dunfield Theatre in Cambridge until August 30. Tickets are $25-$42, available online at www.dunfieldtheatrecambridge.com in person at the Dunfield Theatre Cambridge box office, or by calling (519) 621-8000 or toll free 1-855-DRAYTON (372-9866).
