The Underpants
The Underpants
By Steve Martin
Directed by Frank Hilgenberg
Starring Peter Penuel, Emily Coppens, Cory Boughton
Theatre Downtown, Orlando FL </strong>
Fame is fleeting, as is household dignity in late Imperial Germany. Theo Maske (Peter Penuel) holds a tenuous job as a midlevel clerk while his wife Louise (Emily Coppens) has a tenuous grasp on her undies. They fell off, Art Frahm-style, just as the King paraded by and now she’s the talk of the town. Latin Lothario Frank Versati (Boughton) moves into the spare room but has to split it with the pervy Benjamin Cohen (Eddy Coppens). They both aim to seduce Louise while upstairs spinster Gertrude Deuter (Leslie Penuel) drags Louise down the path of perdition. Theo’s oblivious, but he knows Louise’s place as a small housewife to a small bureaucrat. When Versati catches wind of another target, he’s off to the races and without Versati, what point does Cohen have to make? But then the king (Kirk Woods) drops by to promote Theo and check out Louses’ new silk panties and now Mr. Cohen has a new roommate.
In this salacious comedy of manners, it helps to understand how uptight the bourgeoisie were about scandal, the act of sin was nowhere near as bad as the neighbor’s gossip. Penuel is perfect for the Man of the Haus, he’s crisps and erect, cuts his hair short and likes his sausages cut end to end. Innocent Louise does whatever society wants her to do, her flashes of independence are quickly punished, but she’s still a willing vessel for everyone else’s fantasy. The real comic chemistry flew between Klinghoffer and Versati, they were the ying and yang of aggressive sexuality and repressed private fantasy – Versati loves the idea of love almost as much as he loves himself while Cohen is that creepy guy hanging out in the chat room. While he probably won’t do anything, don’t give him your real Facebook account.
There are plenty of laughs; the text reads a little flat but the jokes are all dead pan comedy and innuendo and tight timing set this production above others I’ve seen. When Theo makes a pass at Gertrude and tells her “plenty of water flows from rusty pipes” you’re not sure whether to cheer them on or just cringe until the feeling pass. The jokes are adult, the laughs preteen, and this is a sex comedy for those not getting enough.
For more information on Theatre Downtown, please visit http://www.theatredowntown.net
