Far from Canterbury
Part of The New York International Fringe Festival
Theatre 80, NYC, August 15, 2015
Reviewed by Rob Lester for Cabaret Scenes
A few questions have puzzled man for centuries: 1. What is the meaning of life?; 2. Is there such a thing as destiny?
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; 3. What do women really want?; 4. Where can you find an affordable apartment in Manhattan? Far from Canterbury takes the query about women, with a bit of the destiny idea, and has its characters in a position ordered to solve it. The stakes are high, if you consider a matter of life and death to be a big deal. And so, with cheeky fun and smart-aleck wit, and thrilling true musical theater power voices, we’re off and running from town to town with a trio of friends — the falsely accused shy guy, his ladykiller buddy, and the tomboy gal pal.
Like in ye olde Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, from whence it sprang, there’s ribald humor, colorful characters, satire, and rollicking adventures on the road, with rhyme and maybe reason. Pick your knight in dented armor, your ladies fair, your rules and laws unfair, and a fair amount of broad humor. With strutting narration shared by a large cast (a large cast in a Fringe Festival show with a real multi-piece band? Yippee!) These actors hold the stage in this tale of tunics and tomfoolery, where men are pests as preening peacocks and women are winsome and/or wiser; hilarity and horniness can rule the day; and unfit rulers see fit to rule the land and command a year’s timetable to get that answer to what women really want. It doesn’t help that the guy assigned to the quest and test is tongue-tied around most any female, so he can’t spit out the que-que-que-question without stam-stam-stammering.
Our three musketeers seeking the great answer are played strikingly and with distinctive flair. They are Luke Hoback as John, the shy guy whose life is on the line, is endearing and worth rooting for, crucial to the success of this piece which otherwise could be TOO cartoony and absent some human sweetness. T.J. Wagner aces his role as pal Marcus, a self-styled Casanova willing to charge for — or lead the charge for — sexual favors, was an audience favorite and has great timing.
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And then there’s Hannah Richter as Agnes, whose power pipes and stifled frustrations chemically combine to result in one of the show’s powerhouse numbers that stops the show and cements a bond with the audience who gave her perhaps the evening’s biggest and most thrilling ovation.
Katie Drinkard as a woman who knows everything and/or fools everyone gave forth with the most dynamic and magnetic work of all. Making the most of her oddball part, with its surprise ending, she had the giggling and guffawing crowd eating out of the palm of her hand, finding a uniquely dazzling characterization that showed tremendous skill. What a consummate performer!
Staging was sometimes problematic; actors moving crates with poles, putting poles in and taking them out, was distracting and could upstage or slow down key moments and transitions. With the miked actors’ voices sometimes wafting through the ethos, it wasn’t always evident whose voice it was, and some stage pictures likewise made an audience’s focus diffused. The show originated at a college and its alumni and current students make up much of the cast, with another school not far behind. This, naturally, meant a fresh-faced, sleek ensemble that wasn’t ideally diverse in look and energy for a cross-section of townspeople. A more mixed look would help individuals stand out from the mob. But otherwise it feels like a show that’s already levels above your typical college frolic. Juliana Kleist-Mendez directs the mostly frisky fun and generally keeps energy high and playful, but not exhausting at a breakneck pace. There’s a fondness for the period and musical comedy traditions, as well as for the characters. This is also true in the script and songs of just-out-of school Danny K. Bernstein. There’s splashiness and joy here. And even though I guessed what the answer to the riddle would be early on, that never for a moment made me lose interest in the characters’ search for it.
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See www.fringenyc.org for info on the Festival, which ends August 30. Some performances of this show, like the one I attended, became sold out quickly. The website will also list those shows given additional performances for this reason.
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