★★★★☆ A riotous farce performed with the perfect mix of precision and sense of the ridiculous.

Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House

November 4, 2016

As Chekhov famously said, if there’s a gun on stage, eventually it must be used. Andrew Upton had fun and games with the concept in The Present, his acclaimed adaptation of Chekhov’s Platonov for Sydney Theatre Company, with characters pulling the trigger several times before the dramatic conclusion. In A Flea in Her Ear –  Upton’s latest adaptation for STC – he has a glass of pee sit on a table in the middle of the room for much of Act I. Much like the Chekhovian gun, we know someone will eventually drink it. The question is merely who and when. Once again, Upton gets much comic mileage from the device.

^{Harriet Dyer, Tim Walter, Helen Christinson and Sean O’Shea. Photo by Brett Boardman}

Not that A Flea in Her Ear is remotely Chekhovian. Written by master farceur Georges Feydeau in Paris in 1907, it is one of his most famous plays. Unashamedly frivolous, it is “an exquisite confection of no nutritional value” as Upton puts it in the theatre programme, but brilliantly plotted with the intoxicating cleverness of a Rubik’s cube.

The beautiful Raymonde (Harriet Dyer) suspects her unassuming husband Victor Chandebise (David Woods), who works in insurance, of having an affair. In fact, his lack of sexual attention is merely the result of a medical condition – sagging butt muscles according to the urbane, randy Dr Finache (Sean O’Shea).

^{Sean O’Shea and Tim Walter. Photo by Brett Boardman}

Determined to catch him with his pants down, Raymonde and her best friend Lucienne (Helen Christinson) send Victor a perfumed letter from a supposed admirer asking him to meet her at the seedy Snatch Time Hotel. Astonished, Victor sends his friend Marcel (Tim Walter) in his place, little knowing that Marcel and Raymonde fancy each other. However, the rather chuffed Victor can’t help showing the letter to Lucienne’s jealous, Spanish husband Carlos (Justin Smith) who recognises his wife’s handwriting.

The trap set, they all descend on the Snatch Time. Joining them there are the Chandebises’ maid (Kelly Paterniti) and butler (Leon Ford) as well as Victor’s nephew Camille (Harry Greenwood) who has a speech impediment and can’t be understood unless he wears a prosthetic palette – which naturally he keeps losing.

Comic confusion ensues. For starters, Poche, the moronic, alcoholic porter at the Snatch Time is a dead ringer for Victor. And as for the indescribable things going on in room seven, don’t ask. (The production comes with a warning of adult and sexual themes, and strong language).

^{Justin Smith and David Woods. Photo by Brett Boardman}

Upton’s robustly modern adaptation makes merry with umpteen double entendres, as well as numerous jibes at the theatre, with condolences offered whenever anyone says they have been to a play. It was also Upton’s inspired idea to add another level of comic madness by having many of the cast double. Not only does Woods play Victor and Poche as Feydeau dictated, but Smith plays both the pompous hotel proprietor August and the jealous Carlos, while Ford, O’Shea, Walter and Paterniti also pop up as other characters at the hotel, some of whom it’s best not to reveal here.

Directed by Simon Phillips, the production retains its 18th century setting.  Gabriela Tylesova’s Art Nouveau-inspired design is vibrantly colourful, while her set spins with the same kind of clockwork precision as the plot when transforming from the Chandebises’ home to the hotel (complete with revolving bed).

A Flea in Her Ear may be unashamedly frivolous fare, but to pull it off requires comic performances at just the right heightened pitch, split-second timing, and plenty of energetic physicality as the characters burst through doors, hide in closets, jump through windows, bang into doors and throw themselves into all manner of other pratfalls.

^{Harry Greenwood and David Woods. Photo by Brett Boardman}

Directed by Phillips with a razor-sharp precision and a loving, knowing feel for the ridiculous inevitability of it all, that’s exactly what it gets. Act I does take a bit of time to find its mojo with not all the humour landing, but once the production gets going, the comic confusion is irresistible.

The excellent cast are all on song. Smith is particularly funny as the melodramatic, trigger-happy Carlos, giving a wonderfully outsized performance. Woods does a fantastic job of switching between Victor and Poche, giving each an instantly recognisable physicality, while Greenwood is a hoot as Camille, sustaining the character’s speech impediment admirably. But all the cast play their part in a gloriously high-speed, comic romp that will send you home smiling.

A Flea in Her Ear plays at the Drama Theatre until December 17