Review: Jeeves Takes a Bow (First Folio Theatre)

  
  
Jeeves Takes a Bow 

Written by Margaret Raether
Directed by Alison C. Vesely
Mayslake Peabody Estate, Oak Brook (map)
thru March 3  |  tickets: $26-$37   |  more info
  
Check for half-price tickets 
  
  
   Read entire review
  

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Wodeshouse revisited: pure escapism

First Folio Theatre presents

Jeeves Takes a Bow

Review by Leah Zeldes 

First Folio Theatre continues its series of P.G. Wodehouse adaptations with Jeeves Takes a Bow, an escape into the comedic side of the 1930s. Adaptor Margaret Raether has mined the author’s stories and crafted a comical concoction of some of his best quips and bons mots.

Less aggressively campy than Jeeves in Bloom, the 2010 show that began the series, in this episode, we find Bertie Wooster, London man about town, and his keen-witted gentleman’s gentleman, Jeeves, sojourning in Manhattan. Trouble arises with the arrival of Bertie’s longtime pal, Binky Binkersteth, who, it seems, has borrowed Bertie’s name in order to appear in a musical called "Naughty Natalie" without attracting the notice of his aristocratic family.

Binky is in love with the leading lady, Ruby LeRoy, but his suit is hampered by the fact that she is under the protection of bootlegger Knuckles McCann. In an effort to find ways to see her, he introduces Bertie to her under his own name, and tells her that he and Jeeves are famous English songwriters. But the arrival of the austere Vivienne Duckworth, bent on writing an expose of the seamy side of Prohibition-era New York City, threatens to undermine all.

Jim McCance and Christian Gray reprise their roles as Jeeves and Bertie. McCance gets deadpan delivery dead on. Gray’s Bertie is more debonair and less fatuous than in the earlier plays, an improvement. As Binky, Kevin McKillip, is a master of the horselaugh. Lydia Berger Gray‘s Vivienne embodies the haughty upperclass, while David Rice and Jennifer Shine could be right out of Guys and Dolls.

It all takes place in Angela Miller‘s elegant Art Deco living- room set, inside DuPage County’s gorgeous Mayslake Peabody Estate,

There isn’t an iota of seriousness in this comedy, which is just as it should be. At times the humor gets a bit slapstick, perhaps more so than avid Wodehouse fans will be comfortable with, but it’s all good fun.

Rating: ★★★

Jeeves Takes a Bow continues through March 3rd at Mayslake Peabody Estate, 1717 W. 31st Street, Oak Brook (map), with performances Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm, Sundays 3pm.  Tickets are $26-$37, and are available by phone (630-986-8067) or online through their website (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at FirstFolio.org.  (Running time: 2 hours, includes an intermission)

Photos by Stefani Foster LaBrecque

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artists

cast

Jim McCance, Christian Gray, Lydia Berger Gray, Kevin McKillip, David Rice, Jennifer Shine.

behind the scenes

Alison C. Vesely (director); Angela Miller (set designer); Christopher Kriz (sound designer); Shelly Holland (lighting designer); Elsa Hiltner (costumes); Kate Danziger (stage manager); Hanna Supanich-Winter (assistant stage manager), Stefani Foster LaBrecque (photos)

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