The Farce at the Shaw

In classical English literature, a farce is a comedy which entertains audiences by means of an unlikely, yet somehow possible absurd situation. The main characters often incorporate a disguise, or use a mistaken identity to drive unusual scenarios well punctuated with puns and sexual innuendo.

According the theatre historians, the very first farce was The Second Shepard's Play, performed around Corpus Christi day in medieval churches in the town of Wakefield, England. This early English theatre gem was crafted by an anonymous author dubbed the Wakefield Master sometime in the late 1400's. Instead of a traditional nativity scene, the plot involves two thieves swaddling a lamb (that they intend to steal) in the manger.

One hundred years later, William Shakespeare authored the quintessential 16^th century farce when he wrote and performed The Comedy of Errors between 1592 and 1594. It was his shortest play, and one of his most farcical: while some of its humor derives from puns and wordplay, a large part comes from mistaken identity.

As I understand it, Corner Gas is actually more of farce than Royal Air Farce. But for the purpose of explaining the properties of a classical farce, let's look at Three's Company. In this late 1970's situation comedy a man (Jack Tripper) shares an apartment with two single women. This scandalous situation will result in his immediate eviction, unless he can convince the landlord (Mr. Furley) that he's gay. This farce is the exact opposite of traditional plots where a frustrated character must overcome a seemingly insurmountable challenge. By contrast, farces are stories where characters transgress the values of modern society in some fashion and are motivated to hide certain truths from others... The chain reaction that results from a small slip of the tongue always creates giant misunderstandings and mass deceptions - a single deed or misspoken sentence can spawn a complex web of humour inside the principles of dramatic irony. In the very best examples, a good farce will cause the audience to reexamine their own social values.

In staged farce there is usually only one location where all the action occurs. Perhaps it's the hotel lobby, or a street corner, or the bridge of a starship. In Three's Company it was the living room of a modern three bedroom apartment. This pivotal central location is often a defining element of the drama; it's usually an enclosed situation that supports many entrances and eavesdropping angles. Three's Company has it's origins in the British bedroom farce of the 1950's and 60's. In 1976, Larry Gelbart penned an initial Three's Company pilot script after borrowing a scenario and characterizations from Thames Television's Man About the House. The British bedroom farce is light drama that centers on sexual pairings and recombines characters as they move through improbable plots. The bedroom farce is perhaps the most common example of the farce genre, and Benny Hill is among its early television pioneers.

Young audiences must still find Benny Hill's silent "Wishing Well" skit amusing, as it was determined to be his most popular sketch. Benny Hill descended from the theatre - he was an actor and comedian in London England in the 1960's. His repertoire was learned from British playwrights who in turn studied earlier French and Irish playwrights.

The most famous bedroom farceur is probably Georges Feydeau, whose collections of coincidences, slamming doors, and ridiculous dialogue delighted Paris in the 1890s and are now considered forerunners to the Theater of the Absurd. This playwright's compositions advanced the farce genre rises above his contemporaries; much of his work is still being performed today, and one gem in particular is being performed at the 2007 Shaw Festival in Niagara on the Lake this summer.

Morris Panych's adaptation of Hotel Peccadillo from George Feydeau's L'hôtel du libre échange, or in English, A Little Hotel on the Side is no doubt destined to become an excellent contemporary example of an 'evolved classic farce'. The 2007 Shaw Festival is helping to advance the farce genre by billing Hotel Peccadillo as adapted from George Feydeau's L'hôtel du libre échange. Morris Panych's adaptation of this classic Feydeau's farce has the Frenchman's usual mix of wacky characters, loose morals and secret desires. But writer-director Panych helps things along with the addition of a handful of Russian airline stewardesses, some tango dancers and Feydeau himself (Lorne Kennedy), who runs the establishment where the good Dr. Pinglet (Patrick Galligan), his patient Mr. Paillardin (Benedict Campbell), Paillardin's wife, Marcelle (Charlotte Gowdy), and others are sequestered. It will be interesting to see how well Morris Panych presents a modern farce inside this world class venue - this is Canadian Theatre at its best.