I saw the 1974 Italian play
We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! nine years ago, a production by
Candid Theater Company, a company that made great programming choices but sadly doesn't seem to have returned after the pandemic. At the time I wrote, "It's a funny farce of a play, one that almost makes you forget the issues behind the comedy, timely issues of fair wages, unemployment, and the rising cost of living." It's even more timely now, with prices of food, gas, and seemingly everything skyrocketing this year. And of course Frank Theatre, another company that makes great and interesting programming choices, saw that too, and is doing their own production of the play at
Mixed Blood Theatre through November 22. I'm pretty sure this is the first straight up farce I've seen Frank do; their work is usually pretty serious, although not without some humor.
We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! is a lot of fun, but still speaks to the current world in a way that's thought-provoking and challenging.
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Margherita (Maggie D'Ambrose) and Antonia (Kimberly Richardson)
(photo by Tony Nelson) |
The play begins when Antonia returns from the grocer with bags and bags of food. Her friend Margarita is astounded that she was able to buy so much when they have so little, and prices are increasing every day. Antonia confesses that she and the other women turned their shopping day into a "pay what you can" day, and walked out with the food they needed without paying much, or anything. Antonia doesn't think her law-abiding husband Giovanni will understand, and the police have begun conducting searches, so the women plot to transport the food to a safe location by hiding it under their coats, making everyone think they're pregnant. Thus begins the farce as the lies pile up and become more and more elaborate (including fetus transplants, pickle juice, and reviving dead people). Finally the roller coaster stops as the lies unravel, and we're left with the sobering truth of the situation.*
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Luigi (Corey DiNardo) and Giovanni (Randy Reyes)
(photo by Tony Nelson) |
Artistic Director Wendy Knox directs the play, and brings out all the humor and farce of the script, without forgetting that this is a very real situation. The talented six-person cast is led by Kimberly Richardson as Antonia, bringing all of her physical comedy skills to bear in this hilarious performance. Maggie D'Ambrose plays her friend and sounding board Margarita, following Antonia's lead and reacting to her outrageous antics. Randy Reyes is also very funny as Anonia's husband Giovanni, with a repeated physical comedy bit in which she seems to throw him across the room. Coincidentally (or not), Corey DiNardo played Giovanni in Candid Theater's production, and here moves over to the role of Luigi, Margarita's husband who comes home to discover the shenanigans. Maria Aps steals scenes in multiple roles, most of them law enforcement, with some fun winks in the script about how similar they all look. Rounding out the cast is Ben Qualley in a number of mostly silent roles.
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Margherita (Maggie D'Ambrose), Antonia (Kimberly Richardson),
and a cop (Maria Asp) (photo by Tony Nelson) |
Nomadic Frank Theatre has performed in many theaters around town in their 30+ years, as well as non-traditional and found spaces. For this show they return to the traditional theater space at Mixed Blood. The set design is almost cartoonish, fitting the tone of the play, with red and white checkerboard tile floor and green and white striped walls in Antonia's modest home. There's a kitchen on one side, bed on the other, and an all-important wardrobe in the center, all necessary for plot points. Food items mentioned in the script, from cabbages to rabbit heads, are charmingly rendered. The characters are dressed in clothes that could be the '70s, but also wouldn't be that out of place today. The script also calls for characters to look out the window at various times, which is accomplished nicely with the help of sound and lighting design. The actors mime opening a window at center stage facing the audience, and the sunlight hits their faces as the noise of traffic hits our ears. (Set design by Sarah Harris, costume design by Lily Turner, lighting design by Tony Stoeri, sound design by Kevin Springer, props by Kris Moua.)
This week the American people expressed their frustration and dissatisfaction with the current state of the country, high prices included, in a historic mid-term election, with results that we hope will begin to right the ship. In the 1970s in Italy, women did that by refusing to pay the exorbitantly high prices, and instead
paying what they thought was fair. Through outrageous farce and broad comedy, this play reflects the very real issues in our world today, and the way that citizens can work together to affect change.
