Theater Review: Into the Breeches

                     Cast of "Into the Breeches"

A slowish start ends in a rip-snortin’ (and even charming) conclusion in George Bran’s “Into the Breeches,” on the boards through Nov. 13 at North Coast Repertory Theatre. Diana Van Fossen directs.

It’s 1942 in Providence, Rhode Island, where the Oberon Theatre has lost most of its male actors to the war effort. Ellsworth Snow (James Newcomb), the conservative Board president of Oberon Play House, comes to tells Maggie Dalton (Melanie Lora), who has taken over directorship of the group since the regular director (her husband) went to war, that he is closing the theater down for the duration.

But the next show on the schedule is Shakespeare’s “Henriad” (“Henry IV” and “Henry V”, played together), and Maggie has another idea: how about doing Shakespeare with an all-female cast? 

Snow is aghast, and immediately says no, but Maggie is persuasive – and as it happens, his non-acting wife Winifred (Shana Wride) is with him, and so enthusiastic about auditioning – that he reluctantly gives in.

Stage Manager Stuart Lasker (Geno Carr) also assumes the worst, though he is more easily persuaded by Maggie, especially since she’s managed to wangle the okay from Snow. Maggie not only does that, but she manages to convince Snow to pay the actors (nobody ever paid female actors at the time).

Then there’s Oberon’s 50-something diva Celeste Fielding (Katie MacNichol), also wailing about the closing of the theater and not the least enthusiastic about an all-female cast of 33 people played by six people, five of them female.

Auditions bring three more women: bouncy June Bennett (Mikaela Marcias), a meek Grace Richards (Rosemarie Chandler) and Ida Green (Taylor Henderson), the only non-white member, who wants to be the costumer (but will also be drafted to act). You don’t want to miss her imaginative costuming for that hanging appendage in the front.

Rehearsals are amusing, but playwright Bran works in serious aspects, as most of the women are concerned about husbands in the war, and worry about the news, especially when letters don’t arrive on time or at all. 

Celeste quits in a twit when she thinks Maggie wants to play Henry (which she regards are her part) and decides to go play Cinderella with a children’s theater group instead. But rest assured that she will return in time to play the Henrys.

The cast is wonderful all around, and so are Renetta Lloyd and Roz Lehman’s costumes. Marty Burnett’s set is simple and workable, Matt Novotny’s lighting 

and Ryan Ford’s sound excellent, and props (by Cindy Rumley) and hair designs are well done by Peter Herman.

Director Diana Van Fossen gets the most from this fine cast. The show plays with lots of giggles and some serious thought about the war effort, and theatergoers will leave amused and satisfied with this ultimate love letter to theater.