No Sex Please, We're British
That famous quip, "Dying is easy, comedy is hard," was first
uttered, allegedly, by George Burns. It makes an important point
no matter who gets credit for it.
Not only are special skills required to put comedy across, it
has a subdivision called "farce" that is even more difficult to
perform. Of course "timing is all"; but so are larger-than
-life personae, non-stop action, long pregnant pauses, straight-ahead
dead-pans, racing in and out of five to seven doors--and a heavy
dose of social criticism underlying all the buffoonery.
In 1971, Anthony Marriott and Alistair Foot wrote an innocuous
little farce called "No Sex Please, We're British." Critics on both
sides of the pond dismissed it out of hand, but the mainstream
public gobbled it up--much as today's audiences go for sitcoms.
What goes around comes around, so "No Sex Please, We're
British" is currently on stage at the Long Beach Playhouse. Though
the premise is 40 years old and shows its age, a well-rehearsed,
nine-member cast jumps through hoops to milk it for all it's worth.
Under the fast-paced direction of Robert Craig, the innocent
plot delighted the audience the night we attended. In a nutshell,
newly-weds Peter (Gregory Wickes) and Frances (Danielle Vinas) have
just moved into a flat above the National Union Bank where Peter is
employed.
Being a proud "alpha-male" Brit, Peter wants to be the sole
bread-winner in the family and doesn't want Frances to work. But
Frances is restless and wants to contribute, so she orders some
Swedish glassware from a Scandinavian shop, planning to sell it from
the apartment.
When the package arrives, Brian Runnicles (Peter's assistant)
signs for it in the bank and brings it up to the apartment. (Stephen
Alan Carver is a riot, stealing the show every time he sets foot on
stage). Imagine Frances' shock to find--not stem-ware--but a box
crammed full of pornographic photographs.
Meanwhile (drum-roll): Peter's middle-aged, widowed mother
(Christi Reinbolt Lynch) is coming to visit in the afternoon (you can
imagine how the newly-weds feel about that!); a bank inspector named
Mr. Needham (Scott T. Finn) is expected to go over Peter's books
tomorrow; and Peter's boss, Leslie Bromhead (Michael Durack) is also
due to drop in.
What are they going to do about the dirty pictures?! When everyone
arrives early all at the same time, panic sets in and pandemonium
breaks loose! Then a box of porno movies arrive, followed by sex
books and--you guessed it--two live women (Tracey Wittse and Nicole
Odell) looking for hanky-panky.
For the next two hours, characters race around like head-less
chickens popping in and out of the doors--missing each other by
inches--as Frances, Peter and Brian try to hide stuff from Peter's
mother, boss and bank inspector.
Throw in a police superintendent (Ken Delena), word play, double
entendre, visual puns, and mistaken identity, then sit back and
watch British humor at work, circa 1970.
Although Daniel Wheeler's set design blocked the action from
people sitting in the front row, his light design was fine; and
Donna Fritsche's costumes were first-rate as always.
"No Sex Please" continues at the Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E.
Anaheim, Long Beach, on Fri.-Sat. at 8:00 and Sun. at 2:00 through
July 17. For ticket information call (562) 494-1014 or go on line
at lbplayhouse.org.