(photo: Christopher O. Banks)

Reviewed March 5
Running time 2:45 - two intermissions
General admission seating t
* A Potomac Stages Pick for pure enjoyment

The Guild returns to the cannon of George Bernard Shaw to revive one of his earliest successes, a comedy set in a hotel in an English seaside town. They do a grand job of it as everyone throws themselves into the inspired tomfoolery while paying sufficient attention to Shaw's strength of craft and display of verbal dexterity to make this such a fun this piece transporting you back to a genteel but nonetheless constantly entertaining 1900. Shaw published the script as one of his "Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant" - this one was and is definitely in the "pleasant" group.

Storyline: A woman who has taken to extremes the unorthodoxy often attributed to then-modern suffragettes brings her three teenage children to a seaside resort only to have a chance encounter with her estranged husband whose existence has been unknown to the children. Through the always proper intervention of the waiter at the hotel, parents and children find the basis for a relationship.

Shaw always dealt with ideas in his plays and here he is taking on the logical consequences of some of the progressive views that had become the trademarks of the modern woman movement. With the exception of a few jibes which Shaw couldn't (or didn't want to) resist, the play is noticeably free of acrimony. Free reign is given to views that weren't quite "proper" at the time, although Shaw would have wanted even the most extreme to be granted full credence. Only in his attitude toward his own given profession does a bit of bitterness show through - witness the exchange "Madam, there is only one place left in England where your views would pass as advanced." "The Church?" "No, the theatre."

Director John MacDonald, who has directed most of Shaw's catalogue for the Washington Stage Guild, keeps things bright and lively, providing prominence for each of Shaw's wittiest lines without making it seem as if the cast were pausing for effect. Of course, with a cast like this one drawn from the Guild's regulars, how could it be otherwise? You won't find a finer ensemble on any stage in town right now.

The design team has fun with this period comedy, creating the feel of the turn of the last century through impression rather than slavish recreation of reality. The costumes of William Pucilowsky avoid the trap of appearing so text-book correct that real people wouldn't actually be wearing them. Of all the design choices the one questionable one was to have the dentist's chair visible to the audience upon entering the theater which kills the opening black-out gag. But once the show gets moving, it takes on a genial persona of its own and provides a grand evening of laughs.

Written by George Bernard Shaw. Directed by John McDonald. Design: Elizabeth Crosbie (set) William Pucilowsky (costumes) Marianne Meadows (lights) Clay Teunis (sound) Christopher O. Banks (photography) Keri Schultz (stage manager). Cast: Jeff Baker, Steven Carpenter, Conrad Feininger, Laura Giannarelli, Tara Giordano, Michael Glenn, Bill Largess, Tricia McCauley, Jason Stiles.

Washington Stage Guild
1901 14th St. NW.
Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays & Saturdays at 8 p.m.
matinees Saturdays & Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

(240) 582-0050