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Ipanema's The Doctor is in...trouble
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And we thought Mr. Obama had health care woes.
Poor misunderstood Sganarelle. The clownish and lazy woodcutter of Moliere’s “The Doctor Despite Himself” wants only to be left alone and occasionally to kick his wife around. But no, fate conspires to make transform him into a world famous healer whether he wwants it or not. At every protest, our woodcutter is himself soundly beaten and cuffed.
The “all in good fun” mandate is observed in Gulu Monteiro’s 70 minute version of “Doctor” presented by the Ipanema Theater Troupe and currently playing at Venice’s Electric Lodge. The foibles and miseries of others are to be our entertainment. Well and good, especially in these get-ups.
There is no scenery in the Electric Lodge’s blackbox, which is probably a good thing since, given how Swinda Reichfelt’s has costumed these five actors, I’m not certain you could fit a chair, much less actually use it. Foam is the order of the play: red, yellow, white and blue foam puffing gloriously out in an array of rings and geometric patterns. Some characters resemble Dali-esque chess pieces; others are mobiles brought to life.
Monteiro’s conceit, if you will, is “the language of the Buffoon,” harking back to the clownish entertainers of medieval Europe who predated Italian commedia del-arte. And, indeed, Sganarelle (played by Charles Fathy) and his pill of a wife Martine (Clara Bellar, also the production’s translator) are bickering and smacking each other all over the stage practically before the play even starts. Once Martine elects to get back at her husband by convincing a nobleman’s servants that her husband is a doctor (he’ll only admit it when beaten), let the slapstick slap. Bearded, bald and hugely lecherous, Fathy’s disreputable Sganarelle makes for a choice ringmaster.
Moliere had his own health issues, and this playlet which places the medical establishment in the satiric crosshairs will rarely be un-timely. The Ipanema players are primarily looking to goose rather than scathe. There’s a choice bit that has Sganarelle bilking a father and son out of every cent and stitch of clothing they possess for medical advice on how to cure their matriarch. The “side effects” – straight out of those endless commercial disclaimers for medications – are, of course, substantially worse than the disease.
Sganarelle’s one good deed is to reunite a pair of lovers Lucinde (Bellar again) and Leandre (Brad Schmidt). Lucinde’s father (Steven Houska) is against the marriage which has forced the girl to play mute to scare off potential suitors. Hence the need for a doctor to cure her.
Some eight years ago, I saw Monteiro’s production of Feydeau’s even more madcap “A Flea in Her Ear” and believed I was witnessing, in Monteiro and Ipanema, g the birth of a major comic player in this city. “The Doctor Despite Himself” does not scale great heights, but it’s a kick in the backside nonetheless.
8 p.m. Fri.-Sat, 2 and 7 p.m. Sun; through Nov. 8. 1416 Electric Ave., Venice. (310) 823-0710, www.electriclodge.org
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