‘Shady Business’

Off-Broadstreet Theatre takes on this British bedroom farce.

By: Stuart Duncan

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Lauren Brader and Brendan Scullin pair up in Shady Business at Off-Broadstreet Theatre in Hopewell.


   The British bedroom farce is really a theater genre all on its own. It has been developed and honed to a fine edge by such prolific playwrights as Ray Cooney and Alan Ayckbourn. The former has had as many as three plays running at the same time in London’s West End; the latter writes a play each season for his home theater in Scarborough.
   One of the minor proponents of the growing genre is actor, director, novelist and playwright Robert Hawdon, who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and for a while was a journeyman actor in regional theaters and television. Later he was the director of The Theatre Royal in Bath. When he turned his hand to writing, he was produced at such venues as Hamstead Theatre and the Edinburgh Festival before hitting his first major success, a comedy titled The Mating Game. One of his newest works is Shady Business, first staged in 2002 in Wisconsin and just now finding a stage in England, at Sonning.
   They try to make it all look very easy at Hopewell’s Off-Broadstreet Theatre — desserts and shows year-round, mostly sellouts. But Bob and Julie Thick read plays at a tremendous pace (both admit it’s mostly Julie who does the reading) in an extraordinary effort to find new and interesting work that might surprise their audiences. As part of this program they found Shady Business hidden among new works in the Samuel French catalog and decided to take a shot at it.
   The plot, if indeed it is needed, revolves around two girls, two boys, a boss, a couple of bruisers and a thousand "smackers" (pounds or quid if you visit London) being tossed around like a hot brick. These ingredients are then twisted like a pretzel, spiced with misunderstood identities, red herrings and just enough salty language to entice the most despondent audience and the roars of laughter follow. Bob Thick’s delicate direction and a group of superb farceurs handle it from there — everything from suggestive to bawdy.
   About those farceurs: let’s start with the women. Lauren Brader plays Mandy, a sort of gun "moll" to the big boss, but ready and willing to play footsie with an attractive young man who just happens to come to the club where she works. In fact as the curtain rises she is in bed quite nude with him (see, already it’s ahead of most of the British farces). Meanwhile the young man (Brendan Scullin) is trying to juggle another young lady from the same club, Tania (Sabrina Rose) without apparent success. Before we are through a second young man (Geoff Barber) has become involved and then Big Mack (Doug Kline) and two of his larger henchmen (Scott Hubscher and Scott Mulhern). It may not matter that the last mentioned turn out to be "softies" when the chips are down — matter of fact. This is one of those comedies where no one is exactly as advertised.
   In the meanwhile we have plenty of sex jokes, most of them very funny, a hilarious scene with one of the young men in drag, (apparently "a must" on London stages these days), and assorted bursting in and out of doors as required by the code of farce.
   As you might imagine, just as much concern goes into the selection of the desserts each show. This time they are particularly good.
Shady Business continues at Off-Broadstreet Theatre, 5 S. Greenwood Ave., Hopewell, through June 25. Performances: Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m. Doors are open one hour in advance for desserts and beverages. Tickets cost $23.75-$25.25, $22 seniors Sun. For information, call (609) 466-2766.