Light summer fare is the best way to sum up this mixed bag of short comic playlets set in Chekhov's time but given an American gloss by Simon, who even contributes a sketch of his own which has nothing to do with Chekhov ("The Arrangement," about a father introducing his virginal young son to a prostitute). Simon frames the evening by introducing a Chekhov-like character called The Writer (the estimable Harry Groener) whose narration links the action. The Writer, when not confessing his problems with writer's block, steps into some of the stories and assumes other personae. Actually, all five actors in the show play numerous characters, having immense fun all the while, if only because The Good Doctor owes more to vaudeville and burlesque than the legit theater.
The best pieces in the show -- "The Sneeze," "Surgery" and "A Defenseless Creature" -- are based on physical humor and slapstick. Simon goes for bittersweet poignancy in "The Drowned Man" and "The Audition," and succeeds reasonably well. Simon is, after all, a nimble and inventive writer who knows how to hold an audience -- even when he's not writing at full strength, which is the case with The Good Doctor. Thanks to the marvelous cast -- and to Stephanie Shroyer's deft direction -- the evening comes off, though, as enjoyable entertainment. What Chekhov would have made of the Simonizing of his material is another matter.
