A DROP-DEAD DELIGHT
Delightful in an over-the-top yet grounded and sympathetic portrayal of Idris Seabright, a well-off spinster obsessed with memories of her long-gone Latin lover, Everett Quinton is the jewel in Joe Brancato’s sharp and whimsical staging of Erasmus Fenn’s hilarious melodrama Drop Dead Perfect.
The entire four-person cast is a joy to watch, their antics overcoming an emotional disconnect which occurs for the first half-hour or so. Ironically, the exaggerated performances and the play’s parodic nature, which create so many uproarious moments, hinder our investment in the characters’ stories, at least for the beginning, making that section less than gripping; the jokes are excellent but in between my attention span lagged. Fortunately, as the production continues, the occasional cloudbursts of humor turn into a downpour, and by the end of Drop Dead Perfect I found myself swimming in laughter.
The year is 1952, the setting, a cottage in the Florida Keys. Idris’s adopted daughter Vivien (Jason Edward Cook delivering an adorable portrayal), who is lame in one leg, dreams of going off to college and becoming a sculptor, yearning to get out from under her controlling mother’s thumb. Idris’s young attorney and confidant, Phineas Fenn (Michael Keyloun, who also plays the narrator), is in love with Vivien, who also has feelings for him. But when Ricardo (Jason Cruz), a sexy young Cuban refugee with dubious intentions and a revolver, suddenly appears at the house, their predictable world is upended—emotions are unleashed, secrets revealed, and the sparks start to fly. Sort of. The plot, while necessary and elegant, is emotionally inconsequential; it’s like a bookshelf and its raison d’être is to hold all the jokes.
Luckily for us these are numerous. And the players take care to make every one of them work. Mr. Brancato makes good use of James J. Fenton’s scenic design, an appropriate imagining of the cottage interior as a cross between sitcom and film noir sets from the 1950’s. Ed McCarthy’s lighting compliments the comically exaggerated drama with intense expressionistic flourishes.
Drop Dead Perfect is a showcase of theatrical craftsmanship. I can imagine a director and actors staging this play as a gag and it failing miserably. What makes The Peccadillo Theater Company and The Penguin Rep Theatre’s production so rewarding is the seriousness with which actors approach their roles; creating poignant and sympathetic caricatures, they seduce us with their talents and charm.
photos by Ed McCarthy and John Quilty
Drop Dead Perfect
The Penguin Rep Theatre production
produced by The Peccadillo Theater Company
in association with Morton Wolkowitz
Theatre at St. Clement’s, 423 West 46 Street
scheduled to end on August 10, 2014
REMOUNT August 19-October 11, 2015
for tickets, call 845-786-2873
or visit www.dropdeadperfect.com