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The Manhattan Project
Shakespeare Theater Company's The Way Of The World marks the return of a well-received pairing of Veanne Cox and Christopher Innvar as the play's romantic leads. But these two have some competition for the spotlight -- from the show's costumes.
Set against a stark, pristine white backdrop of a set by Wilson Chin, costume designer Jane Greenwood's pieces are all green excess. The Way of The World, a restoration comedy, is a period piece for certain, but something about those dynamite costumes brings a special added flair beyond the historically authentic, working in the realm of ruffles, hats, corsets and frills.
This isn't to say that our intended stars Cox and Innvar aren't a dynamic pairing (though Innvar's stage time is relatively limited, despite being at the work's center). The couple first faced off against each other in The Beaux Strategem back in 2006. Though similar in style, The Way of The World is a more reserved comedy, lacking the uproariousness of that show, but nonetheless witty (and a little wordy). Cox is a bit more limited in her role here -- her character Mrs. Millamant can be more shrill and prissy than seductively demanding -- but she can really drag every last ounce of humor from William Congreve's lines. Innvar, also seen recently in the company's The Taming Of The Shew, is proving to be one of the group's most reliably dashing leading men.
Alongside the pair is cast stuffed with stars, including the brilliant teaming of Floyd King and J. Fred Shiffman as two foolish fops (if the phrase isn't redundant), Nancy Robinette as the pathetically desperate Lady Wishfort, Colleen Delany in what seems to becoming a trademarked role as saucy maid, and the chameleon-like Andrew Long as the devious Fainall -- among others.
The Way of the World is a smart play, a naughty one and at times a challenging one. Summarizing the plot takes away a lot of the fun -- basically just think themes of squabbles over money, amusing trickery, emotionally-rooted misunderstandings. Probably the most quotable and laughable line comes from Innvar's Mirabell, when speaking of his love-hate relationship with Cox's Mrs. Millamant -- "The catalogue [of her faults] was so large that I was not without hopes one day or other to hate her heartily." Gorgeous language that takes a quick minute to process -- clarity isn't always Congreve's first goal, but his clever loftiness demonstrations a way with the words, so to speak.
The play runs through Nov. 16 at Shakespeare Theater. Tickets are available online.
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If delivering lines of a single tired theme with the exact same intonation every time for over 2 hours is "uproarious," then we need a new comedic standard and stat. However, costumes and set make it worth suffering through.
Uproarious=The Beaux Stratagem, not this one, mho. But sounds like I still enjoyed it more than you did.