Review Preview: School for Wives

Draft of my review of "School for Wives" at Centenary College follows. Had to wait until alst night to finish the lead (you'll understand when you read it).

Normally, I do not look forward to Centenary's season-opening costume classic, but this was a startling exception. Two reasons not in the review: the cast is not dependent on students that never seem to do very well on this stage, and a tight running time of 2 hours even.

Which is more than I can expect this week when I see "Blood and Roses" at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Looking forward to it (Brian Crowe is rapidly rising to the top of my list of resident directors there, and that's one talented list), but I have a nap scheduled in my DayRunner for Saturday afternoon.

Theater review
If you want to go:
What: “School for Wives”
When: through Oct. 21
Where: Centenary Theatre, Centenary College, 400 Jefferson St., Hackettstown
How much: $15 to $22
Info: (908) 979-0900; www.centenarystageco.org

By WILLIAM WESTHOVEN
Daily Record
Call him Mr. October.
Morris-area baseball fans may not have a team to cheer for in the World Series, but, like Reggie Jackson in the 1977 fall classic, artistic director Carl Wallnau is the straw that stirs the drink for Centenary Stage Company, which last week premiered a sensational production of “School for Wives.”
Wallnau traditionally directs his professional company’s season-opening, classic-theater production, but for the first time in several years, he’s also claimed the starring role. He’s cast himself perfectly as the unscrupulous, cradle-rocking fraud in Moliere’s 18th century farce, and he’s hit the part out of the park. There are many pleasures in “School for Wives,” but Wallnau’s side-splitting performance is more than enough to nominate it for comedy of the year in Northern New Jersey.
The famed 17th century French playwright Moliere also was known for starring in his not-so-romantic comedy about a middle-aged businessman experiencing something of a mid-life crisis. Arnolphe had achieved some measure of respect and success, but has yet to marry, fearing the fate of other men who have become cuckolds (men whose wives cheat on them). His long-term solution, however, is about to ripen. Agnes (Katie Tame), his young ward, is back home after years in a convent, where her only education came from the Bible and a book about how to be a proper wife.
Unfortunately, while he was traveling, Agnes was smitten by young Horace (Philip Mutz), the son of one of Arnolphe’s oldest friends. Enlisting the assistance of two less-than loyal—and less than competent—servants (Stuart Fingeret and Daniele Tampier), Arnolphe spends the better part of two acts plotting to separate the young lovers, taking one step forward and three steps back the entire way.
To be sure, there is no vegetarian alternative in “School for Wives” as Wallnau’s performance has more ham than the breakfast special at I.H.O.P. Imagine Jackie Gleason doing an impression of David Niven and you’ll begin to get the idea. Wallnau the director has given Wallnau the actor free reign, and he commands the stage like a child throwing a tantrum in the middle of Wal-Mart. Twisting syllables and eyebrows beyond their natural limits, Wallnau had the opening-night audience hyperventilating and gasping for air in between the belly laughs.
Of course, given his character’s utter lack of conscience and scruples (even his bribes are counterfeit), the over-the-top approach is perfectly appropriate. Arnolphe’s behavior is so inexcusable that he must be rendered a caricature for any audience to appreciate him, because they will never like or sympathize with him. This was true, even in Moliere’s day, and it takes a brave man to play such a coward with so much passion.
Wallnau the director also has a nice touch with his supporting cast. Fingeret and Tampier have a nice chemistry as the bumbling servants, while Mutz, who has done some work with the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, is an earnest, eager lover who handles the tricky dialogue with ease. Leon Hill, a Centenary student and Centenary Stage veteran, makes an impression in a brief role as a snooty notary.
Wallnau’s only misstep as director is dressing Agnes in a pink, baby-doll dress with oversize hair ribbons, and having Katie Tame play her as an obnoxious 8-year-old. Gilda Radner used to make this work on “Saturday Night Live,” but her character was not an object of male desire. Wallnau even supplies her with an oversized lollipop, adding a creepy Lolita quality to the list of reasons why we hate Arnolphe.
Tame also delivers her lines with a loud, shrill voice that would make one wonder why two men, let alone one, would want her as a wife. Fortunately, Wallnau lets her act her age during a balcony monolgue that lets us appreciate Tame, and her character, just enough to not consider if she may be the punishment Arnolphe deserves.
Centenary College has a lot to look forward to in the future, with groundbreaking this week on the new, 70,000-square-foot Lackland Center, which will include a new 500-seat theater. In the meantime, Centenary Stage Company has brightened the school’s present with this fine production of an enjoyable classic plucked from the past.