‘Move Over’ Could Go by the Wayside

FULLERTON — Like a restaurant that knows which specialty will bring in the patrons, the summer series at the Muckenthaler Center Theatre on the Green draws its audience by concentrating on comedy lite and the more farce, the better.

And like restaurants that change management but not the menu, the new group in charge this summer--San Fernando Valley-based West End Artists Theatre Company, replacing former producer Fullerton Civic Light Opera--keeps the farce coming. Call it counter-programming to the slew of outdoor Shakespeare on one hand and outdoor electrical parades and fireworks displays on the other.

The trend for farce--specifically British farce--already set at the Muckenthaler continues with Ray Cooney and John Chapman’s “Move Over, Mrs. Markham.”

The result is a paradox: a cast with some first-class credentials and the skill to handle something more substantial than Cooney and Chapman--they could do justice to Alan Ayckbourn; a tepid staging that takes far too long to get cooking; and an instantly forgettable, even hackneyed, farce.

“Move Over” leaves us chuckling, but it feels droopy in the early phases. Part of this stems from a situation so improbable that the resulting comedy has to wiggle out of it like Houdini.

Henry and Linda Lodge (David Bennett Stephens and Stephanie Nash), an unhappily married couple, have invited their respective lovers--Miss Wilkinson (Precious Chong) and Walter (John Serembe)--to their respective secret hideaways for a bit of British sex.

The only problem is that their hideaways are the same place: the home and offices of Henry’s partner, children’s-book publisher Philip Markham (Barry Thompson) and his wife, Joanna (Alexa Jago).

Neither Henry nor Linda know about this unfortunate coincidence. Of course, when Henry confides in Philip, and Linda in Joanna, the Markhams don’t tell each other either. Toss in obnoxious interior decorator Alistair (Kevin Owers), who is redoing the Markham place to Philip’s disgust, and the maid (Lynn Anderson, who doesn’t pull off a German accent, thus making the later jokes about her meaningless), and you have a very strained formula for a comedy of mistaken identities.

Act 1’s belabored effort to set the machinery in motion is so sweat-inducing that it’s no fun; watching machinery getting set up never is. Farce shouldn’t let us in on the tricks, but “Move Over, Mrs. Markham” lets us in on everything. You feel almost held by the hand as you’re guided through this setup under Pamela Hall’s direction, and you can imagine Act 2 long before it happens.

When it does happen, and the mistaken identities hit the fan with enough punch to threaten Philip and Joanna’s marriage, the cast wakes up and gets going.

Stephens is a scream (he’s also blessed with the best lines), his Henry knowing just the right moment to drop into the conversation.

Thompson works hard but isn’t as funny because his character ends up carrying a lot of the play’s nonsense. Nancy Barker, as a spinsterish best-selling author the publishers want to sign, does her best with a silly plot device of a character. Nash and Owers heighten the panic level with aplomb, and Jago keeps a good even keel--ever the hostess, but still pushed to the edge.

Actors such as these suggest what wonderful Ayckbourn they could do together. Why aren’t they? Ayckbourn is also partly farcical, also comic--also infinitely funnier and smarter than this material.

It’s hard to think of a better summer site in the county than the Muckenthaler for Ayckbourn (and his endless supply of comedies). Cooney and Chapman’s belabored work is a poor substitute, and yet, ironically, the solid casting pulled together by West End Artists only reminds us that we could have better.

* “Move Over, Mrs. Markham,” Muckenthaler Cultural Center Amphitheatre, 1201 W. Malvern Ave., Fullerton. Tuesday-Sunday, 8:15 p.m. (Preperformance dinner at 7 p.m.; picnicking permitted Tuesday and Wednesday). Ends Sept. 1. $19.50-$32.50. (714) 447-1777. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Alexa Jago: Joanna Markham

Barry Thompson: Philip Markham

Kevin Owers: Alistair Spenlow

David Bennett Stephens: Henry Lodge

Stephanie Nash: Linda Lodge

Nancy Barker: Olive Harriet Smythe

Lynn Anderson: Sylvie Hauser

John Serembe: Walter Pangbourne

Precious Chong: Miss Wilkinson

A West End Artists Theatre Company and Muckenthaler Cultural Center production of Ray Cooney and John Chapman’s farce. Directed by Pamela Hall. Set: Steve Montgomery. Lights: David Darwin. Costumes: Don Nelson. Sound: Chuck Estes.