Theater Review - Fever

Fever

Written by Theresa Rebeck

Directed by Sanford Robbins

Where: Thompson Theater at the Roselle Center for the Arts 

(University of Delaware, Newark, DE)

When: Saturday, April 20, 7:30pm

***Opening Night World Premiere***

The University of Delaware's Thompson Theater at the Roselle Center for the Arts has been turned into a war zone for the next two weeks as a battle of the sexes unfolds in Theresa Rebeck's world premiere play Fever written specifically for the Resident Ensemble Players, UD's professional acting troupe that has been going strong for five years now.  Two years ago, Ms. Rebeck brought the world premiere of her play O Beautiful to the REP, but I found it a mishmash of stereotypes and hot button political issues thrown against a wall with the hope that something would stick.  Needless to say, I was not eagerly anticipating this follow-up when the season subscription was announced.  Well, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with this one -- a laugh-out-loud romp that provides a fun night at the theater despite some problems that arise as the evening progresses.

While Ms. Rebeck certainly takes a big step back from the political hotbed that was O Beautiful, Fever isn't without its provocative issues that will certainly have you questioning whether it's okay to laugh at what's taking place on the stage in front of you.  Focusing on the different ways men and women hear and interpret things, the play opens with a young man and woman (Michael Gotch and Carine Montbertrand) sitting at a table in a Midwest bar seemingly on a first date that is quickly taking a turn for the worse.  As tensions rise, french fries, beer, and vitriolic words begin to fly as the other patrons in the bar look on in shocked amazement.

Photos by Paul Cerro

After the young couple leaves the bar, those remaining can't help but talk about the display that just took place before their eyes.  The only problem is that Patrick and Barry (Mic Matarrese and Steve Tague) saw things quite differently than their female counterparts Margo and Laila (Kathleen Pirkl Tague and Elizabeth Heflin), the latter of whom owns the bar which has been part of her family for generations with her husband Nick (Stephen Pelinski).  As the quartet tries to relay the story of the warring couple to Nick, the genders can't seem to agree on anything that took place, setting off their own little firestorms that build and build as the story progresses.

When the play is focused on this comedic, though biting, battle between the sexes, it works best.  [It veers a tiny bit in certain places into "sensationalism" simply for the sake of being "sensational," but after what I saw in O Beautiful in that regard, this one is like a children's bedtime lullaby.]  Rebeck has created a cast of characters who all have a very distinctive voice, but they meld together so wonderfully with dialog that bounces off one another almost effortlessly.  That's not an easy task and much credit must be given for achieving it.  However, rather surprisingly and somewhat disappointingly, the play falters a bit when it shifts to what it perhaps believes is its actual underlying main story.  Nick is finding it increasingly hard to live within the means he desires given the fact that Laila's family's bar is sucking him dry (both financially and emotionally).  While he's tried to keep these feelings a secret from Laila, he's forced to let it all out when loyal patron Patrick sets up a meeting for Nick with someone (Deena Burke) who feels she could find a buyer for the exquisitely hand-crafted bar (that's right...the actual bar within the bar) for quite a handsome chunk of change.  Obviously, this causes great tension between the married couple, but it's half of a story here that I wanted to love, but couldn't connect with in the slightest.

I understand that Nick and Laila's squabbling over the sale of the bar is supposed to be a more subdued version of the frenetic chaos of the younger couple in their bar, but the connections between the two storylines never really clicked for me.  I desperately wanted to give a damn about Nick and Laila, and actors Stephen Pelinski and Elizabeth Heflin imbue genuine sincerity and sympathy into the characters, but, in the play's final scene, in what I can only assume is to be dialog that embodies the heart of the story, the whole thing falls a bit flat.  It's not that it's disingenuous or that it rings untrue...it just doesn't quite manage to ring at all.

This being said, I think Fever is a play that has the potential to be quite successful and transfer really well to other regional theaters across the country.  With a bit more tweaking particularly in the Nick and Laila scenes, Ms. Rebeck has the makings of a solid hit on her hands.  But by saying that, I'm selling this production a bit short and I don't want to do that because despite its imperfections, the REP themselves have a hit on their hands.  With the help of Rebeck, director Sanford Robbins (whose pleas at every single production to make us bring guests to the REP have not fallen on deaf ears with this reviewer) takes this talented group of REP actors and manages to make me forget that I'm watching a cast that I've come to know over the past four years since I've been attending their productions.  Surprisingly (to me, at least), the actors felt fresh and new with some of them giving their best performances of the season.  [In addition to the aforementioned Pelinski and Heflin, kudos to Michael Gotch and a raunchy and saucy Kathleen Pirkl Tague, both of whom were fantastic.  Although, really, across the board raves for everyone in this production.]  Maybe it was the tackling of a modern-day comedy or maybe it was because they were performing in the world premiere of a play, but something about this show gave them a renewed spirit and vigor that made me long for next season to start as quickly as possible.