Vienna Theatre Company production runs through Feb. 4
Mention Shakespeare and those who struggled with the Bard in high-school English classes – and avoided him afterward except when compelled – discreetly will start looking for the exit.
But put the master playwright’s characters and plots in a modern setting and they become much more relatable and enjoyable to the Bard-phobic.
Vienna Theatre Company does this in its latest production, Ken Ludwig’s “Shakespeare in Hollywood,” which serves up plenty of the Bard’s verbal virtuosity, but also enough humor and zaniness to satisfy modern-day audiences.
The action is set in Hollywood in 1934, where Warner Bros. is making “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” into a movie. Two Shakespearean fairies from that play, Oberon (Eric Storck) and Puck (Leah Glicker), end up on set because Puck made a mistake with a spell.
The pair have a great dynamic, with Oberon serving as the wise elder who’s not to be crossed and Puck providing mischief and additional comic relief. Puck readily acclimates to Hollywood’s glitzy environment and jargon, while Oberon repeatedly mangles Tinseltown’s terminology.
Storck, who is VTC’s president and a regular performer with the troupe, acquits himself nicely and brings gravitas to the role. Glicker shows wide range as Puck, who cowers from Oberon’s wrath, flits about furtively while casting spells and scurries around afterward to clean up mistakes.
Movie director Max Reinhardt (Steven Rosenthal), having recently fled from Nazi-controlled Austria, is one of the play’s highlights. He initially is unsuccessful in persuading studio head Jack Warner (Tom Flatt) to make the film, but instead gets to him through his floozy starlet girlfriend, Lydia (Jessie Duggan).
The actress wants to be a star, but her range is limited to shimmying and shaking her voluptuous figure. Duggan is a hoot and deservedly garners much of the audience’s affection.
Flatt plays Warner as a goofy, lovestruck buffoon and this is far preferable to the real version of the studio mogul, whom the late actor James Garner described as the most vulgar person he’d ever met.
Through a series of mishaps, Oberon and Puck get cast to play themselves in the movie. Oberon becomes smitten with actress Olivia (Kristina Martorano) and helps her master passages of the Bard’s dialogue to help her win the audition.
Oberon and Puck have in their possession a magical flower that casts spells on the people who hold it and make them lovestruck with the next being they see. Matters predictably go haywire when they use the flower to try and manipulate affairs.
Rosenthal is terrific as the director, who is driven batty by the inconstancy of his cast, crew and the movie’s uptight censor (Lisa Mackem). Ensemble cast members serve well in a variety of roles, including Warner’s three brothers.
Michelle Kritzler has a nice turn as a socialite/broadcaster who rubs elbows with the stars and Kevin Lukacs delights as an uncomprehending actor in drag who gets caught up in Oberon’s and Puck’s machinations.
Kudos to props master Allison Gray-Mendes for the set’s tripod-mounted movie camera, neatly made out of a black-covered box with three tubes in front for lenses and a pair of circular cannisters on top as film reels.
The play, directed by Sabrina McAllister, opened a day late on Jan. 20, owning to the previous day’s wintry weather, and as usual there were a few kinks that the troupe will iron out in coming shows. Possibly because of microphone trouble, some of the performers were barely audible to those seated in the back row.
“Shakespeare in Hollywood” provides plenty of action and laughs, along with a bit of gratuitous profanity the playwright probably should have excised.
• • •
The play runs through Feb. 4 at the Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St., S.E. Shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $16 and purchasable in advance or at the door (if still available) at the Vienna Community Center or by visiting www.viennava.gov/webtrac.