In Regrets Only, Paul Rudnick serves up a referendum on gay marriage couched in a modern drawing room comedy. Unfortunately, the audience is left unsure if the show is for or against. And when you are playing in front of Uptown Players’ patrons, that’s just confusing. The politics may be cloudy, but the comedy is clear. That’s why it is so surprising that it misses the marriage mark as it hits everything else. This is a one-liner shoot-out with plenty of friendly fire and ammunition to spare. So, if you like your wit strong and your issues weak, put on your best designer duds and head uptown.
World famous fashion designer Hank Hadley is still nursing the loss of his long time lover when he calls on the McCullough penthouse, high above Fifth Avenue. He’s there to take on the town with his favorite party going partner Tibby McCullough. Her husband Jack is suddenly off to D.C. to prepare a brief on a Constitutional amendment forbidding gay marriage. He wants their lawyer daughter Spencer to come along. This sets up a debate on the subject of marriage as she is preparing to solidify her relationship to a man and Hank has just lost his relationship also to a man. Spencer ends up going with Daddy but Hank doesn’t go with Tibby. The debate, while light on the surface, is heavy in his heart, and he can’t go gallivanting now. She doesn’t know how deeply he’s been affected by the examination of his lifestyle.
B. J. Cleveland is fantastic as the alliterative Hank Hadley. Understated, yet understood, his confident attack on this designer delving into his feelings for the first time is the heart of the production. It was by his own design that Hank never married his man, but the thought of not being allowed that choice awakens an activism unknown before. Mary Margaret Pyeatt plays his party playmate Tibby. Their chemistry is worth the ticket price. In fact, their friendship becomes central to the play; it is arguably stronger than her marriage. The play asks what does marriage got that friendship doesn’t? Though it doesn’t answer it, these two who wouldn’t even brave the shallow end of the political pool, get pretty wet looking for answers for the first time. The play may be considered a success if it convinces even one patron to wrestle with these issues, though it doesn’t provide much direction once they get there.
The vagaries of the script aren’t helped by the production. The set is a soaring penthouse in New York City. The grand entrance is upstage placing many moments and monologues far, far away from the audience. This wouldn’t be a problem if Director Coy Covington used the room but mostly they stand and pose and declaim. Perhaps it is the space between the actors that causes them to fail to connect but they don’t achieve the crystalline social strata that would be the constant aim of people so wit attuned.
The only thing more important than how good you look is how sharp you are and those two things must be constantly maintained. That’s why they pose and pronounce, but that’s not enough. Each whip of the wit means a change in score and a threat to the structure. The tension should be inverse of the balance. The marriage debate scene takes place without these mechanics underneath. The subtle status war that ratchets up the reality of the subject with which they wrestle is lost and the actors seem to wonder how they got onto the subject as much as the audience. The damage is done, however, and Hank must have his revenge. Unfortunately, it seems like an overreaction.
This may explain why the maid, Myra, is only a half successful device. The play opens with her answering the door of the swank NYC apartment in a ridiculous Irish accent. No laughs are had as the audience works hard to suspend their disbelief that they just paid to watch something this bad. Just in time they realize the character was just pretending to be Irish. Consequently, the actress, Cynthia Matthews, gets a sigh of relief from them instead of a laugh. It is like telling an outrageous set up for a joke that someone takes seriously. By the time you convince the person it is a joke the moment is gone. We just can’t figure out why these rich folk simply expect and indulge this maid’s flights of fancy. The answer originates from the same source as before. No one has figured out a way to look fabulous while telling her to stop. Without that bit of nuance her wacky counter point to the witty dialogue turns into a series of hit or miss drive bys. The cast stands respectfully frozen through most of her crazy crosses. Truth be told, Ms. Matthews lands most of these moments anyway. This is a long way to say that it isn’t her fault.
When all is said and done, marriage, gay or straight, doesn’t come off as well as friendship. That’s why the play is more about Tibby and Hank than Tibby and Frank. Their friendship for marriage exchange feels like a bait and switch, though, and the audience leaves a little unsure. The value of friendship is no middling message but in this context seems one shoe shy.
Photo: BJ Cleveland,Mary-Margaret Pyeatt , and Melissa Farmer (Credit: Mike Morgan)
