“Wonder of the World,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, follows runaway wife Cass who, armed with a list of a few hundred things to do with her new life, leaves her husband for distant shores. Written in 1999, five years before “101 things to do before you die” was published and long before “The Bucket List” was conceived, “Wonder of the World” is the tale of a nave young woman in search of her destiny.
The list in this somewhat warped comedy steers Cass into some bizarre situations.
Having left husband Kip because of his fetish for …. well, let’s just say I’d never heard of it, Cass (Amber Hughes) takes a bus to Niagara Falls, where the rest of the play takes place.
Searching for answers to the meaning of her life, Cass checks off the first item on the list: “Get a sidekick.” However, jilted, sodden alcoholic Lois, played ó suitably soused ó by Devon Currie, is more interested in her own mission: suicide in a barrel over the falls.
Husband Kip (Aaron Ganas) pursues errant wife Cass to Niagara after hiring rookie private eyes Karla (Lydia Price) and Glen (Mike Matthias) to rain on her parade.
Justin Lewis, as Captain Mike of the Maid of the Mist, storms in and sweeps Cass off her feet, while scene-stealer Guerin Piercy, as Janie the therapist (also appearing as Barbara the tourist, three different waitresses all in one scene and a helicopter pilot), tries unsuccessfully to shower a little sense on it all.
There should be a barrel of laughs in “Wonder of the World,” and to give everyone their due on opening night, there was at least a firkin’s worth. The marriage counselor’s version of the “Newlyweds” game has some particularly hilarious punch lines. But there is no downpour of laughs, only a drizzle. Comedic timing makes a laugh line sink or swim.
Comedy or drama, every audience loves to sympathize, support and share emotions with the main character. Cass’ puzzling mixture of Lewis Carroll’s Alice and Ibsen’s “Doll’s House” Nora is not Hughes’ fault. The playwright obviously got bored halfway through the second act and turned Lucy and Ethel into Thelma and Louise with a few drops of ditz on the side. From affectionate empathy in the first act, the audience is left really not caring whether Cass finally bathes in eternal happiness or Cass-cades over Niagara Falls.
Any play with a quest of navigating the source of life’s eternal meaning is bound to flounder in deep water, and “Wonder of the World” wallows with the rest. Abaire’s ideas are all washed up midway through the second act, and, with the possible exception of Lois, his characters fizzle and fade without ever growing or progressing. Resorting to farce, the final few minutes appear very contrived. It’s a pity, and surely influences the actors’ modus operandi when they know their characters are stagnant.
Not to douse the play entirely; it’s not all wet. The punch lines are still there to “pour” over and the cast will learn how to “trickle” your funny bone as they immerse themselves in their roles in the final three shows.
As usual, the Catawba production is a first-class affair with imaginative backdrops and revolving Hedrick set.
Woody Hood is a swell director, and stage manager Patricia Adkins keeps the tide (and set) turning.
Chris Zink flooded the lighting, David Pulliam sprayed the set, Jeremy Kinser flowed the costumes and Thomas Marvin streamed more than the usual spatter of sound cues.
Catawba College’s “Wonder of the World,” paddles on stage at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 7-9, in Hedrick Little Theatre, rain or shine.
Moisten your fingers and count out $10 for adults and at a mere $8 for non-Catawba students and senior citizens ó you won’t get soaked.
To be saturated with a river of information, call the Catawba College box office at 704-637-4481. Group rates are diluted.