I Now Pronounce You …
It’s a perfect wedding, with a lovely couple, and all those involved are staying in a beautiful English country inn. What could possibly go wrong?
The groom wakes up on the morning of his wedding with quite a hangover and a strange woman in his bed. His bride is on her way to the inn to get dressed for the wedding, so he is in a panic when the best man shows up. While the unknown woman is in the bathroom, the groom tells the best man to pretend that she is his girlfriend or the chambermaid. There are plenty of laughs when it turns out that yes, the strange woman IS the best man’s girlfriend and the real chambermaid shows up, as does the bride’s mother
Perfect Wedding is a typical British farce – doors slamming, mistaken identities and lots of fibs about who’s who – currently on stage at Playhouse II in Grand Bend. The opening night audience was laughing loud and often as the antics unfolded.
Gabi Epstein steals the stage as the chambermaid. Her wide-eyed facial expressions start the laughter before she even gets the words out. The chambermaid is an interesting character – she is of course, much lower on the social ladder than her guests, and yet morally superior. Gabi makes the most of this funny role.
Darren Keay as the groom and David Leyshon as the best man are both hilarious as the secrets are revealed. Jackie Mustakas as “the other woman” is both funny and remorseful, and the petite Karen Wood is hilarious as the bride’s mother with the troublesome husband. Josée Boudreau handles the role of the bride well, not quite reaching the bridezilla stage.
Kudos to the entire cast for maintaining appropriate British accents throughout. One of my pet peeves is accents that disappear after intermission, or worse yet, fade away at the end of each sentence. This cast carried it through to the end – and so many comeback lines are just funnier when spoken Brit-style.
Only a few short days are left in the run of this crazy farce – if you want a good laugh, get your tickets immediately.
Perfect Wedding continues with eight shows a week until July 28 at Playhouse II Tickets are available at Drayton Entertainment at 1-888-449-4463, or check www.draytonentertainment.com
Perfect Wedding
By Robin Hawdon
Directed by James Kall
Performed by Josée Boudreau, Gabi Epstein, Darren Keay, David Leyshon, Jackie Mustakas, Karen Wood.
Drayton Entertainment
Playhouse II, Grand Bend
July 18 to 28, 2012
Reviewed by Mary Alderson