‘Boeing’ set for takeoff
Director’s orders: Take a break from heavy drama and catch a comedy.
“Laughter is good medicine,” said Eli Simon, chancellor’s professor of drama at UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts. “Let’s have a fun time in the theater.”
He should know. After all, Simon, who joined the UCI faculty 27 years ago, currently teaches clowning, scene study and mask acting.
And having directed productions across the country, specializing in original clown shows, American classics and musicals, Simon said choosing a classic farce for his next show at the university’s Humanities Hall Little Theatre was an easy decision.
Saturday through May 3, Claire Trevor’s drama department will present “Boeing-Boeing,” a comedy so popular that it was once listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most-performed French play in the world.
The farce, written by French playwright Marc Camoletti and translated into English by Beverley Cross, was first staged in London in 1962 and transferred to the Duchess Theatre in 1965, running for a total of seven years.
However, in the U.S., the play wasn’t in great demand — it closed on Broadway after a mere 23 performances.
But in 2007, “Boeing-Boeing” was revived in London and once again proved to be a hit with critics and audiences. Matthew Warchus directed the 2008 Broadway revival, which won Tony Awards for Best Leading Actor and Best Revival of a Play.
“There are only few great farces written in the last 50 years or so, and this is in my top five favorites,” Simon said. “But you don’t come to ‘Boeing-Boeing’ to get a better understanding of the world. You go for fun and to enjoy yourself.”
The 1960s-era play, set in Paris, revolves around Bernard, an American businessman and Lothario, who is juggling love affairs with three stewardesses who are all engaged to him without any inkling of one another’s existence.
But catastrophe is in the cards.
The airlines switch to the faster Boeing 707 aircraft, and all three women touch down in Paris the same weekend. His childhood and out-of-town friend Robert and his housekeeper, Berthe, help Bernard keep his fiancees away from each other, but once Robert forgets which lies to tell to whom, disaster strikes.
The production, Simon said, provides some springtime comic relief, since “Boeing-Boeing” follows a few serious offerings at the school this season. The play features mod ‘60s-style costuming and constructed sets that were specially designed for physical comedy. The set has seven doors that swinging bachelors and airline attendants can fly in and out of with split-second timing.
Jessica Van Kempen, 22, a first-year graduate student who is in her fifth year of costume design, was responsible for creating the clothing and accessories in the upcoming show.
Van Kempen, who was cleaning up last-minute details during a Tuesday evening tech rehearsal on campus, said she turned to the university’s library to research 1960s wardrobes. After flipping through vintage magazines, she said, she went fabric shopping and constructed three period airline uniforms.
“For this show, it’s challenging because it’s a farce and there’s a lot of movement and action in very prescribed uniforms,” Van Kempen said. “So there’s a lot of theater magic in this play.”
One particular costume that needed a quick adjustment was a bath towel.
The minimal cover-up, she said, is for a scene where one of the air hostesses flashes the male characters. Van Kempen said it wasn’t so difficult to find the common household item — she went shopping at Target and bought a few towels — it was figuring out how to ensure that an actor could quickly snap open and close the material. So she bought magnets and glued them onto the fabric.
“That’s the best part, when you’ve rehearsed these scenes so many times and you don’t find anything that funny anymore, and then, on opening night, the audience is laughing at everything,” Van Kempen said.
Simon said that on Saturday evening, he, the cast and crew will gather and play a rhythm game to get in sync with each other before taking the stage. He and the team have spent five weeks memorizing lines and movements, but no matter how technically precise the actors are, the synergy comes from the audience, Simon said.
“We’re hoping to improve people’s lives with laughter and make this an enjoyable experience for our audience,” Simon said. “We’re ready to roll.”
If You Go
What: “Boeing-Boeing”
When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Thursday, May 1 and May 2; 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, 2 p.m. Sunday and May 2 and 3.
Where: Humanities Hall Little Theatre, UC Irvine
Cost: $11 to $15
Information: (949) 824-2787 or https://www.arts.uci.edu