Review: ‘Communicating Doors’
Lots of intriguue, but little humor in this production of Ayckbourn's comic thriller.
By Jim Rutter
For THE INQUIRER
In Communicating Doors, Alan Ayckbourn has written an almost director-proof play. At least I would have argued that before seeing the Liam Castellan helmed production currently at the Hedgerow Theatre.
We'll start with the brilliantly constructed plot, a Hitchcock-influenced comic thriller with a time travel twist. In 2034, dominatrix Poopay (Kyra Baker) goes on call to the luxury hotel room of the wealthy Reese (Shaun Yates). Instead of sex, he wants her to witness his confession to a lifetime of business-related crimes and killings.
Reese's henchman Julian (solidly portrayed by Brock Vickers) chases her into a pair of communicating doors—usually leading from one suite into an adjoining room—which instead transports her back 20 years, to the same room in the same hotel, on a night she now knows Reese murders his second wife Ruella (Stacy Skinner).
Ayckbourn overlays each era naturally. There's no confusing references to past technology, no potential for anachronism, no dated attempts at humor, just a superbly layered plot that, thanks to the fantastic performance by Skinner, held my interest like a vise grip for two hours.
But I am left to imagine that intensity modulated by bursts of humor.
The opening scene—stretched out by Yates's overacted death throes—should set the tone for an evening of intrigue and laughter. But the direction misses every opportunity for comedy throughout the entire play.
Note to Castellan: handcuffs are funny. Jokes about sex should be funny. A bidet accidentally shooting water in a woman's face? How did you not use that for humor? And why did you forego slapstick, physical comedy or attempts at farce on a sharp set (designed by Zoran Kovcic) that contains a stretched-out sofa and five doors!
As a result, the ending—of three women nearly falling out a window—feels serious, and irritates rather than amuses.
Oh well. Laments are better spent on things you can change and I don't have a set of time travel doors to go back and fix this mess.
Communicating Doors. Presented through October 5 at the Hedgerow Theatre Company, 64 W. Rose Valley Road, Media. Tickets: $15 to $34. Information: 610-565-4211 or hedgerowtheatre.org