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| Gary Copsey, David Heath, Arianne Jacques. Photo by Casey Campbell Photography |
By Tina Arth
When Bag & Baggage announced their 2016-17 season last
April, few people would have predicted that the decision to replace their
traditional Christmas farce with the relatively obscure Parfumerie would prove so prescient. However, co-directors Scott Palmer and Cassie
Greer did not miss the significance in November 2016 of a play that embraces
love and hope in the face of an ominously xenophobic political climate. The
result is a show that is funny, heartwarming, but still able to subtly remind
us of shadows on the national horizon.
While Parfumerie
is new to American stages (it was first performed in English translation in
2009), the story is widely known to fans of stage and screen. Author Miklos
Laszlo’s original 1937 Hungarian play, Illatszertar,
has been reworked as 1940’s The Shop
Around The Corner, 1949’s In The Good
Old Summertime, the 1963 musical She
Loves Me, and most recently 1998’s You’ve
Got Mail. Although the names and locale sometimes change, the basic story
is the same – two pen pals fall in love through anonymous correspondence while
unknowingly waging daily battles as co-workers. After the story has been told and
retold by the likes of Jimmy Stewart, Judy Garland, Barbara Cook, Tom Hanks and
Meg Ryan, is there anything new to be gained from the efforts of Hillsboro’s
Bag & Baggage? My answer is unequivocally “yes” – I found myself riveted by
the deeper character and story exploration in the original play, and by the way
it augments my appreciation of She Loves
Me, my personal favorite among the adaptations.
Of course, even the best script calls for skilled actors,
and B&B has assembled a first-rate cast to tell the tale. David Heath (as
Parfumerie owner Miklos Hammerschmidt) gives a fiercely moving performance as
he moves through his character’s anger, grief, despair, and ultimate
contrition. Patrick Spike finds both the humor and pathos in his role as Sipos,
the pragmatic wage slave who just wants to keep his job in tough economic
times, and Eric St. Cyr’s consistently funny take on the hapless but ambitious
Arpad takes the edge off some of the show’s darker moments. Nobody on local
stages can top Andrew Beck for supercilious, unctuous depravity, and his
portrayal of the thoroughly despicable Kadar fully lives up (or down) to his
potential.
While the love-hate relationship between brittle,
defensive Amalia Balash (Arianne Jacques) and her soulmate/nemesis, George
Horvath (Joey Copsey) is the heart of Parfumerie’s
many adaptations, the original play has a broader thematic focus. However, the production still finds ample
humor in the two characters’ confused relationship. Copsey’s juvenile mockery
of his colleague (exemplified by his relentless mispronunciation of her name) and
Jacques’ hostile, wounded reactions shape the plot, and the eventual revelation
provides a satisfyingly romantic resolution. Jacques gets some of the show’s
best comic moments in the scene where Amalia contrasts her anonymous pen pal’s
sterling qualities with (her perception of)
George’s profound character deficits, and Copsey does a fine
job of gradually revealing how very wrong she is.
Ultimately the two characters’ problems pale beside the
serious issues confronting Mr. Hammerschmidt, and a few subtle touches (an overzealous
policeman, a hidden menorah, the emphasis on the Parfumerie’s elaborate
Christmas décor) make it clear that in 1937 Hungary a rising fascism is a
portent of much worse to come. The final scene is a beautiful, but slightly
chilling, masterpiece of caroling harmonies and gently falling snow underscored
by the distant pulse of a police siren.
Megan Wilkerson’s detailed scenic design, in concert with
Jim Ricks-White’s lighting and special effects, create the ambience necessary
to transport us back to an elegant 1937 Hungarian parfumerie, and Melissa Heller’s
costumes provide just the right touch of formality for a European capital city
of the era.
Audiences conditioned by three years of Bag & Baggage’s
KBnB buffoonery will find this year’s holiday show to be very different, but
every bit as enjoyable, as previous productions. The meatier content (and family-friendly
script) should draw an enthusiastic response from the company’s regulars and
from newcomers in search of solidly entertaining Christmas theater.
Bag & Baggage’s Parfumerie
is playing at Hillsboro’s Venetian Theatre, 253 E. Main Street, through
December 23d, with performances Thursday through Saturday at 7:30pm, Sunday at 2:00pm.
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