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Theater review: Rep’s ‘Run For Your Wife’ promises to have the audience in stitches


The cast of 'Run For Your Wife'. Photo from Repertory Philippines
 
The British are known for their deadpan humor and dry wit, but that doesn’t mean they’re not capable of more obvious, physical comedy. "Run For Your Wife", a play written by Ray Cooney that puts a funny spin on infidelity, is more of the latter.

The rather generically named John Smith (played by Jamie Wilson) is a cab driver in 1980s London who one day lands in the hospital when he helps scare off two muggers trying to victimize a pedestrian. Smith suffers a mild concussion, but the real headache is yet to come. After mistakenly revealing two different addresses to hospital staff, we find out that he lives in two different flats with two different wives who, of course, know nothing about each other.

Smith is able to juggle the two households only because of an almost obsessive attention to a rigid timetable. He keeps a notebook that records his every movement, where he’s supposed to be and how long he’s supposed to stay there at any given time. The schedule is thrown out of whack because of the unexpected hospital visit, and, naturally, trouble—and hilarity—ensues.

The homely first wife Mary is played by Goldie Soon, while the more sexually aggressive second wife is played by Mikkie Bradshaw. The rest of the cast is composed of Jeremy Domingo as Smith’s neighbor and friend Stanley Gardner, Steven Conde as the loud gay neighbor (in the other flat) Bobby Franklin, James Stacy and Paul Holme as the two cops who threaten to expose Smith’s secret, and Mara Javier as a newspaper photographer.

When a play bills itself as a comedy, expectations are high that it can at least elicit a chuckle or three. "Run For Your Wife" is, undoubtedly, rip-roaringly funny, the kind of humor that works for a Filipino audience. “Do you know what an accessory is?” one of the cops asks, subtly hinting at the consequences of aiding someone with a criminal act. Gardner innocently replies, “A handbag?”

The characters, especially Smith, move and run around a lot, so it is to director Miguel Faustmann’s credit that it never gets too confusing or overwhelming. At times, though, the action onstage reminded me of those old-school sitcoms on primetime TV. (Think "Palibhasa Lalake" or "Ober Da Bakod"). This shouldn’t be construed as a criticism of the acting. On the contrary, this batch of mostly theater veterans act up a storm, complete with what to me sounded like passable British accents. It was a true ensemble where each actor was only as good as the colleague he or she was doing a scene with; and in that case, everyone lifted everybody else up.

Still, special citation must be given to Wilson, who manages to put the audience squarely behind him with a believable, un-annoying, aw-shucks charm that made us forget just how despicable his actions were to begin with. It couldn’t have been easy delivering lines, keeping the accent, making sure where he was supposed to stand, run, sit and lie and, at one point, eating paper, all at the same time, but his performance here only proves how much of a consummate professional, and a truly gifted actor, he is.

Call me a bit mababaw, but I will admit to the occasional thigh-slap because it was just too darn funny. People who like their comedy gentle and cynical may be put off a bit, but those who can appreciate the slapstick and irreverent may yet find themselves doubling over in laughter. Do yourself a favor and come Run For Your Wife. — BM, GMA News

'Run For Your Wife' is a production of Repertory Philippines and runs at OnStage Theater in Greenbelt 1, Makati City until May 3. Ticket prices range from P400 to P600. For more information, call 843-3570 or TicketWorld at 891-9999.
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