A Comedy That Bites Back

The Doppelganger (An International Farce) – Steppenwolf Theatre

 

When questioned as to how this particular play evolved, Chicago and New York playwright Matthew-Lee Erlbach replied that it catapulted to the page by desperation, rage, hope and fear. Mr. Erlbach looked at the current world and society’s values and began to realize that, viewing the planet through economic justice, it was looking grim, but not without control. The human cost of innovation and progress is filled with stories of minority groups slaving away for pennies while fighting for their lives. The playwright felt that he needed to give voice to these people and their stories.

Erlbach has created a comedy that bites back. Directed effectively and efficiently by company member Tina Landau, it offers the typical buffoonery, crude characters and ludicrously improbable situations, patterned after the farces of George Feydeau, Christopher Durang and Michael Frayn. It provides the frantic physical comedy of all these playwrights, as well as the frenzy of Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove’s “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” without the songs. The situations, while ripped from today’s headlines, are highly exaggerated and seem improbable and harsh, but are based on today’s world economic and political situations. Erlbach offers a whirlwind of physical humor, laced with nonsense, and performed with broad stylization. Like other farces, this play takes place in one locale, on two levels of a grand house, with lots of flapping doors and a giant staircase.

Rainn Wilson, known to most theatergoers as the star of TV and film, is most recognized for playing nerdy Dwight Schrute on NBC’s “The Office.” Few realize that the New Trier High School graduate racked up years of theatrical performances before and after earning a name for himself on television. Here he becomes the master of mayhem, playing both British copper mine magnate, Thomas Irdley, and his American schoolteacher look-alike, Jimmy Peterson. Set in Irdley’s French colonial mansion in Bangui, Africa, Erlbach’s farce turns into a circus of international characters and intrigue. Mistaken identities are inherent in a play called the Doppelganger, but audiences will be greatly surprised by the grief and goofiness that it also achieves. To say that Rainn Wilson is brilliant in this role is an understatement.

Mr. Wilson is matched by the incredibly sharp-tongue and physical performance by Celeste M. Cooper, as Irdley’s housekeeper, Rosie. Ms. Cooper, whose great and varied talents have been enjoyed in such productions as the recent “BLKS,” “Barbecue” and “Blues for an Alabama Sky,” matches Wilson with her eloquence and physical dexterity. Watching Ms. Cooper scaling a stairway, heading to the roof with a dead body under her arm, is a sight not soon to be forgotten. Celeste as adept at physically sparring with her employer as she is verbally bartering for the wellbeing of her people. This is one actress to watch because her star is definitely on the rise.

Completing the cast are audacious Audrey Francis, the fashionable and very British Beatrix Geddes-Renwick; motormouthed Whit K. Lee, as hip Chinese American innovator, Wen Xiaoping; James Vincent Meredith as a wheelchair-bound dictator, Michael Masaragba, with the incomparable Ora Jones, as his outspoken wife, Lolade. Andy Nagraj is very funny, as he bares both his soul and his backside as Prince Amir Abdullah; Karen Rodriguez is hilarious as his voluptuous consort, Marina; Michael Accardo is bellicose and brash as General Stanley Harcourt; and Sandra Marquez holds her own as Theresa Irdley. Special recognition must be given to Dan Plehal as Beau D’ouble, a role best seen to be fully appreciated.

Todd Rosenthal’s designed a dynamic masterpiece of scenic detail. The basic, two-level structure will be familiar to any aficionado of farce, but the  devil is in all the details…and the set dressing. Costumed with wit and flair by Clint Ramos, with hair and wig design by Penny Lane Studios, this production is as polished and visually appealing as anything Steppenwolf has ever presented. Kudos to Matt Hawkins, for his superb fight choreography, Elizabeth Laidlaw, for her Intimacy Consultation and to Jeff Jenkins for the expertise he brings to the show’s physical comedy.

This original adult farce by Matthew-Lee Erlbach, which has already been extended into early June, is well worth seeing. Theatergoers should take a deep breath before the play begins because they’ll find themselves gasping for air between the laughter. Once the lights come up on the chaos and comedy oxygen may be in short supply in The Doppelganger.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas   

   

Presented April 5-June 2 by Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted, Chicago.

Tickets are available in person at the box office, by calling 312-335-1650 or by going to www.steppenwolf.org.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.