THE HANGOVER REPORT – The Pearl’s THE DINGDONG delivers on its promise of mayhem and laughter

19FDINGDONG-facebookJumboYesterday evening, I caught a performance of The Dingdong at the Pearl. After having just seen the intense (albeit excellent) downer A Girl is a Half-formed Thing that same afternoon, I was in the mood for something on the lighter side to occupy the second half of my double-header. Luckily, The Dingdong, a madcap, Paris-set sex farce about love and fidelity in marriage, fit the bill perfectly. Here, playwright Mark Shanahan has done an excellent job of adapting George Feydeau’s Le Dindon into piece of theater that retains the spirit and structure of your traditional French farce while at the same time speaks viscerally to present-day audiences.

Directed by artistic director Hal Brooks with a supple feel for pacing and comic antics, the production hits just the right note of zaniness without pushing too hard. Indeed, it’s a testament to Mr. Brooks’ light touch that none of the double (and triple!) entendres feel overly obvious or tiresome – and there are a lot of them in this play. The cast of five – most of them playing multiple roles – is an inspired, well-oiled machine. I particularly enjoyed Kelley Curran’s sublime, hilarious turn in a number of sharply-crafted portrayals. Thanks to the cast’s individual and collective skills, they’re able to overcome the limitations of the modest, threadbare physical production (The Dingdong plays in repertory with Aaron Posner’s acclaimed Stupid Fucking Bird, which seems to have sucked most of the Pearl’s spring budget).

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THE DINGDONG
Off-Broadway, Play
The Pearl Theatre Company
2 hours, 10 minutes (with one intermission)
Through May 15

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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