ON STAGE THEATER & MUSIC OPENING NIGHTS
Borealis revives Ferenc Molnar's farcical classic

By Lawrence Bommer
Special to the Tribune
Published September 5, 2003

The age-old, chicken-or-egg puzzle of whether art imitates life or vice
versa was never more eloquently posed than in Ferenc Molnar's "The Play's
the Thing." In this thinking farce from 1926, characters Sandor and
Mansky, both playwrights, and composer Albert have recently completed a
new operetta and are eager to present it to Illona, their prima donna and
the composer's fiance.

When the three overhear Illona having an affair with another actor, the
playwrights hurriedly weave their own tangled web: Overnight they create
an imaginary play that includes Illona's compromising lines, convincing
credulous Albert that all along last night's run-in was a rehearsal and
not a rendezvous.

Opening Friday in an adaptation by P.G. Wodehouse, Borealis Theatre
Company's revival expects to exploit the playfulness of Molnar's witty
illusions and delicate psychology, as well as his reasoned depiction of
jealousy at its most volatile.

According to director Jeffrey Baumgartner, who also plays Sandor in the
production, the play pays tribute to the theater's power to replace
reality: "With various winks and nods both Molnar and Wodehouse celebrate
the machinery that makes theater. Sometimes that means breaking the
fourth wall--for instance, by having a character sit in the house as he
contemplates his next move. Rather than ask an audience to sit back ...
it asks them to engage in the story."

"THE PLAY'S THE THING" runs through Sept. 28 at the Theatre Building,
1225 W. Belmont Ave.; $18.50; 773-327-5252.