Fly me to the moon

Confusion reigned supreme and the Balch Arena Theater was transformed into a lush garden this weekend, providing the setting for Pen, Paint, and Pretzels' latest production. The play, a little-known comedy called Ring Round the Moon, was directed by Taylor Shann and proved to be the latest in a long line of entertaining performances put on by 3Ps.

The production itself is the story of two identical twins, both of whom are played by Josh Bauml. Frederick, the younger of the two, is good, kind and desperately in love with an heiress (Laura Semine), so evil brother Hugo takes it upon himself to cure his brother of his obsession. He recruits the help of a young ballet dancer named Isabelle (Megan Hammer) to perform at an engagement party that his aunt Madame Desmortes (Kathryn Tabone) is putting on, but his plans go awry when the other guests begin to misinterpret Isabelle's presence and the young woman herself falls in love with the dastardly Hugo.

Because of the nature of playing identical twins, much of the weight of the performance lies on Bauml's shoulders and he manages to carry the energy of the play skillfully. One of the most fascinating parts of Ring Round the Moon is watching him switch between his two personas and their carefully adapted mannerisms, leaving the audience to try and ferret out which one is on stage by facial expression and body gestures alone. Though he borders on overacting at times, Bauml usually manages to stay on the right side of the line, and his enthusiasm in his role as the evil twin makes Hugo's plots all the more enjoyable.

Megan Hammer in her role as Isabelle is less convincing. Watching her, it is a bit more difficult to imagine precisely how she managed to capture the attention of everyone at the ball even with the help of Hugo's best laid plans. Her interactions come off as slightly flat, which stand out in a cast full of so many extraordinarily quirky characters.

Jessica Bauman, a freshman in her first 3Ps performance, is particularly enjoyable in her role as Isabelle's mother. She dominates the stage every time she enters a scene. Also notable was Brendan Shea in his role as the nervous, neurotic Romainville. Amid a slew of fast-paced lines Shea is nervous and slightly awkward at first, but Shea had more than settled in by the end of the performance and played proficiently off the energy of the other actors.

Unfortunately, setting the play in the Balch Arena Theater detracted from the actors themselves. The circular theater, which puts the audience right on top of the stage, automatically makes the setting more intimate. In a play like Ring Round the Moon, scenes rely heavily on facial expressions and body language and staging these elements in a theater in the round can mean that part of the audience will miss the joke because they are unable to see anything but the players' backs. Ring Around the Moon's blocking did not seem to adequately address this problem, especially in regards to the final few exchanges that meant so much to the overall storyline.

Fortunately, the best part of Ring Round the Moon is its constantly moving dialogue. This dialogue would challenge even the most inspired actor yet the players of Ring Around the Moon pull these lines off without tripping, maneuvering quick-fire exchanges, and rapid dialogue. This provides most of the energy of the play, along with the quirky secondary characters who add so much depth to the performance. For the most part, the cast seemed awkward at the beginning but quickly settled into their roles, which elevated their capacity to plough through the extensive wordiness of the script.

Caitlin McGarty and Chris Babayan, the erstwhile lovers Lady India and Patrice Bombelles provide an energetic boost, especially with their well-choreographed dance routine. Robert Curry, in his role as the Jewish businessman Messerschmann, added a colorful backdrop for the main storyline. Semine was believable but unexciting in her role as Diana Messerchmann, Frederick's original love interest, and Tabone did a fair job capturing the busybody spirit of the twins' aging aunt, Madame Desmortes. Sam Rivers was also entertaining as Joshua, the butler, providing a good straight man for the other characters' antics. Amanda Haley's Capulet was the opposite, having fits of overenthusiastic romantic fancy that seemed to materialize out of midair in the middle of the play.

The simplicity of the set and the well-planned integration of both music and lighting contributed well to the ultimate performance in spite of the blocking problems, and the dance exchanges were especially intricate. All in all, though the last scene seemed a bit flat and a bit too contrived, the production was for the most part enjoyable, representing a worthy culminating effort of the incredibly wordy script.