{"id":10363,"date":"2016-02-01T15:55:05","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T20:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=10363"},"modified":"2016-02-01T16:12:48","modified_gmt":"2016-02-01T21:12:48","slug":"review-huntsville-theatre-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/review-huntsville-theatre-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Comedy reigns in Huntsville Theatre Company’s latest production"},"content":{"rendered":"

How hard can it be to mount a play? Huntsville Theatre Company\u2019s latest comedy production, Mounting Sex in the Afternoon Zone<\/em>, pokes fun at the inner workings of theatre in a show where what can go wrong, often does.<\/p>\n

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In this play-within-a-play, a director and cast of actors try desperately to rehearse a play that keeps changing genres \u2013 from British farce to Canadian comedy to Canadian musical comedy and finally to sci-fi musical with the requisite Canadian references \u2013 thanks to a fickle producer and an egotistical director-playwright. All this amidst a love triangle that has David Stoffel (Frank Berg) trying to hide his mistress Valerie (Emilie Stroud), who plays his wife, from his wife Claire (Carrie Schiffler), who plays his mistress. To the delight of the the sold-out audience at the January 30 show, it went about as well as you might imagine.<\/p>\n

The anchor of the production is Matt Friesen (played by Sonny Allinson) who as director and playwright of the play-within-the-play Sex in the Afternoon<\/em> gleefully disregards his leading man\u2019s predicament to further his own agenda. Allinson\u2019s Woody Allen-esque portrayal of the insecure, self-involved director is spot on. He plays off the unseen producer\u2019s demands with a mounting frustration and desperation that leave his cast members confused and uncertain, driving them each into their own debilitated states.<\/p>\n

Kudos go to the actors-playing-actors for the difficult task of making good acting look bad while transitioning from their regular characters\u2019 personas to those of their play-characters. Emilie Stroud played her rookie actress role to a T, Frank Berg exhibited his talent for physical comedy, and Carrie Schiffler showed off some impressive vocals and dance moves in the musical numbers.<\/p>\n

Michele Ineson deserves special mention for her passionate, hard-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside portrayal of onstage stage manager, Suzanne Bennett, and for a memorable rant when even she\u2019d had enough of the director\u2019s antics.<\/p>\n

And a nod to Jayne Drinkwater for her over-the-top portrayal of TV show host, Maxine Augustus.<\/p>\n\n\t\t