The line between the make-believe world created by a playwright and that of the real world can often be fuzzy. The premise is used by Ferenc Molnar in presenting what evolves into a play within a play, with a surprise twist as the stage lights come up to reveal four men in formal wear in a very palatial room. The location, setting and their characters are soon identified for us: theatre men. As the charade of The Play's The Thing rolls along, the acting for a stylish piece becomes strident in voice and less vigorous in action. Most of the cast members, seen the second night after opening, lost "it." Was the reason insufficient six-weeks rehearsal, plus only two previews before being flung before Toronto's press corps?
Negative public response reached this critic's ears, satisfying prudent reasons for his periodic dozing off. Karen Robinson, revealing vocal traces of her native Jamaica, put the blind color bar to the test playing a European blueblood. Michael Hanrahan as the poised, unperturbed manservant, Dwornitschek, stole all his too-brief scenes in what should have been a Capra-style romp.
