A theater review by Kyle Whalen, February 24, 2015
2.5 of 4 stars
It’s 1960. Bernard, an American man living in Paris, has three fiancées. Each is a stewardess with a different airline and schedule; each thinks she’s the only fiancée. He’s fashioned a delicate, satisfying balance of romantic and sexual variety by consulting a pan-airline schedule book. That balance wobbles, however, when the airlines begin using a faster Boeing model, disrupting Bernard’s delicate fiancée-scheduling.
That’s the conceit, anyway, of the clever, ubiquitous farce Boeing, Boeing, originally written by Marc Camoletti, translated/adapted from the French by Beverly Cross & Francis Evans, and currently produced and performed by 906 Theatre Company at Mary’s Attic in Andersonville.
906’s production brims with energetic, speedy performances and keen technical design, and I had a fine time. But I also found myself wishing for greater specificity.
Take a microcosmic example: the sound design included the iconic “Zou Bisou Bisou” which played during at least two transitions. It’s an evocative, familiar period choice. Yet, I can recall no other incidental music. Consequently, the show’s sound design has aone-dimensional, pre-rock muzak vibe by resting on one, standard song.
Similarly, director Emma Couling and her actors confidently handle the play’s language, style, and tempo. Yet many scenes felt coarse and broad. The production’s overall verve, while chiefly a positive trait, blurred the story’s emotional contours. Many scenes whizzed by on a single pitch, it seemed, keeping Boeing, Boeing from a more nuanced level of humor.
Other aspects benefitted from less complexity. The fiancées’ hostess dresses (red for America, blue for Italy, yellow for Germany) and their respective apartment decorations communicate little specifically about their character, but still suggest that what Bernard sees as essentially the same (three women/colors) are actually distinctive and deserving of singular attention (three disparate primary women/colors). Further, the set design takes full advantage of Mary’s Attic: 906 smartly let Mary’s Attic’s bohemian loft atmosphere transport us into Bernard’s environment, adding only a few curtains to designate bedrooms, some tables, and seats.
It’s promising that Boeing, Boeing has a solid core with a few rough edges. The new-formed 906 Theater Company writes in their mission statement they wish to produce plays that “reflect upon the human condition.” They are off to a good start: to explore the human condition using a farce is maybe not the first place your mind goes. Few things besides farce better demonstrate language’s capacity to manufacture and uphold totally different, conflicting realities (that is, to lie). Furthermore, 906 encourage participatory elements, such as letting their audience photograph the production as they please, and, namely, the drinking game (which becomes nearly impossible in one scene).
Check out Boeing, Boeing. It’s a lively and intimate production that touches on human quirks, just as well as tragedy or sentiment, by a young company that knows what they want.
#BoeingBoeingFlight906
