My work as a director in regional theatre is consistently recognized for it’s clarity, precision, and steady hand guiding actor’s to the best performances they can give.
Don't Dress for Dinner provided me with a terrific opportunity to re-imagine a fairly standard farce in the atmosphere of 1930's movies, a genre I love.
This production also was extremely satisfying as I was able to work with two former students in the cast , Edward McCreary (UGA '13) and Shelli Delgado (UGA '13). Both were members of the Aurora Apprentice Company at the time. Shelli was Nominated for a Suzi Bass Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Don't Dress for Dinner. The Atlanta Journal Constitution said of Shelli's performance "a veritable star is born in the delectable performance of newcomer Shelli Delgado as Suzette, the cunning young cook they hire for a swanky soiree. A member of Aurora’s apprentice acting company, she puts her more experienced cast mates to shame with a refreshing charm and ease, essentially making off with the show in much the same way that Suzette cashes in on the others by agreeing to play different parts in their sundry subterfuges."
CRITICAL PRAISE
Atlanta Theatre Buzz
http://www.atlantatheatrebuzz.net/reviews-2014.html
Aurora Theatre has staged the (by far) finest and funniest production I've ever seen of this. The cast all are able to spin a web of absurdity that defeats any logic and "unwilling suspension of disbelief." Differing accents cleverly delineate class, and rampant physical comedy makes the whole production an almost non-stop orgy of mayhem and mirth and laughter.
The first "right" choice made by director George Contini is to set the play in a pre-production-code early 1930's, giving it a Screwball Comedy "feel" that serves to "ground" the preposterous lies and deceptions in an artificial "Hollywood" (nay, a Marx Brothers) universe in which anything can be believed and everything is fodder for fraud and funniness.
The second choice that works are the various accents. Bernard, his wife (Jacqueline), and his friend (Robert) are quintessentially British -- upper class, stiff-upper-lip, disdainful. Bernard's mistress (Suzanne) is peroxide blonde, squeaky-voiced American -- that "other" object of desire. And the cook (Suzette) and her husband (George) are French -- employees and exotics.
Adding to the soup is an absolutely fabulous set by Lizz Dorsey, a towering converted barn, full of nooks and crannies and cathedral ceilings and a single treacherously arbitrary double door -- if we need to see Robert trip, the bottom is stuck closed, if we need to see him walk face-first into the door, the top is stuck closed. It's a beautiful device that ratchets the physical comedy to nose-bleed heights.
Theatre Review.com
http://www.theaterreview.com/index.php?productionurl=4575&maindata=proddetail
"George Contini's direction is a marvel. He has given his cast a tremendous number and variety of comic bits, and it makes them look like comic geniuses…a bang-up production at Aurora Theatre…he has masterfully crafted every moment in the play to point up the comedy….anyone coming to see the show should come to enjoy the hijinks….Don't Dress for is a dizzyingly entertaining romp."
Atlanta Cultural Arts Reviews
http://publishersfeatureservice.com/?p=3038
this is one not to miss. It is playing to sold-out houses, so if you want a night of non-stop hilarity, check them out
Gwinnett Daily Post Article
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/archive/aurora-theatre-stages-final-play-of-season-don-t-dress/article_427e6782-fa7f-5734-86cc-eda04e9cbeba.html
Director's Notes
In 1930, Hollywood adapted what is known as the Production Code . The Code listed the taboo subjects and situations that would not be permitted on the screen as they could “arouse dangerous emotions”. One of the prominent restrictions was on the portrayal of sex and adultery….
“… the triangle, that is, the love of a third party for one already married, needs careful handling. Impure love must not be the subject of comedy or farce, or treated as material for laughter.” This was especially difficult because by its nature, farce, since the early Greek comedies, has always been based in stories of foolish, unbridled lust and infidelity.
In the early 30’s many film studios only nominally adhered to these rules and found ways to skirt around them with innuendo. They are referred to as Pre Code Films. Noel Coward’s Private Lives and Design for Living are perfect examples of romantic comedies that were built upon infidelity. But by 1934 the Code had firmly taken hold in the industry. As a result, the Screwball Comedies were born---so called because the frenzied sexual antics were reduced to a childlike playfulness, often taking place in the homes of the wealthy. Such comedy classics as Bringing Up Baby, It Happened One Night, My Man Godfrey; though silly on the surface, all still had an element of sly wickedness to them.
With this production of Don’t Dress for Dinner we imagined a Pre- Code early 1930’s movie that, for its time, held nothing back. In its day it would have featured actors like Carole Lombard, Jean Harlow, Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, William Powell, Maurice Chevalier….all having a grand time seeing what naughtiness they could slip past the censors. Enjoy!
In 1930, Hollywood adapted what is known as the Production Code . The Code listed the taboo subjects and situations that would not be permitted on the screen as they could “arouse dangerous emotions”. One of the prominent restrictions was on the portrayal of sex and adultery….
“… the triangle, that is, the love of a third party for one already married, needs careful handling. Impure love must not be the subject of comedy or farce, or treated as material for laughter.” This was especially difficult because by its nature, farce, since the early Greek comedies, has always been based in stories of foolish, unbridled lust and infidelity.
In the early 30’s many film studios only nominally adhered to these rules and found ways to skirt around them with innuendo. They are referred to as Pre Code Films. Noel Coward’s Private Lives and Design for Living are perfect examples of romantic comedies that were built upon infidelity. But by 1934 the Code had firmly taken hold in the industry. As a result, the Screwball Comedies were born---so called because the frenzied sexual antics were reduced to a childlike playfulness, often taking place in the homes of the wealthy. Such comedy classics as Bringing Up Baby, It Happened One Night, My Man Godfrey; though silly on the surface, all still had an element of sly wickedness to them.
With this production of Don’t Dress for Dinner we imagined a Pre- Code early 1930’s movie that, for its time, held nothing back. In its day it would have featured actors like Carole Lombard, Jean Harlow, Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, William Powell, Maurice Chevalier….all having a grand time seeing what naughtiness they could slip past the censors. Enjoy!