Don't let the fact that the Lyric Stage Company is on the 2nd floor of the YWCA deter you from seeing "The Underpants" - the show's lack of wit and its wisecrack humor are reasons enough.
The play is little more than a cheap laugh, full of lewd and uninventive slapstick. Though the jokes may be tired, however, one can't help but laugh at the absurdity of the events. In addition, the issues underlying the humor are real. This reason alone elevates the string of one-liners into a satire (albeit a weak one) about one woman's search for her own identity.
"The Underpants" first began as 1911's "The Bloomers" by Carl Sternheim, and was recently rewrote and updated by comedian Steve Martin. His signature style - extreme silliness and grand caricatures - is apparent throughout.
The premise alone is funny; when Louise's (Caroline Lawton) bloomers accidentally fall during a public event, her uptight husband Theo (Steven Barkhimer) fears for his job and his dignity. Louise is elevated to semi-stardom by the event, exactly what her quiet and sex-starved marriage needs. Men, including the Nietzsche-spouting, poetry-touting Frank Versati (Lewis D. Wheeler) and the continually-kvetching Benjamin Cohen (Neil A. Casey), come courting her under the pretense of renting their spare bedroom. Encouraged by her nosy neighbor Gertrude Dueter (Stephanie Clayman), Louise attempts to engage in a love affair with Versati. When this fails, Louise returns to her husband's now-open arms, but with slightly more self-confidence.
Sternheim's work is known for the way it highlights society's evils. Martin's adaptation remains generally faithful to the original, but pumps up the sex and political incorrectness, indeed going too far at times.
For example, Martin pokes fun at the Germans, turning all of their men into soldier-like civil servants. Cohen, alarmed at Theo's consternation when he hears Cohen's name, quickly explains that it's "Cohen with a K." These jokes aren't really funny anymore, except perhaps in "The Producers."
Stereotypes play an important role in the show. The one serious theme of the play involves Louise's eventual deconstruction of her own stereotype as a "little housewife."
The story is essentially about Louise's attempt to overcome the mediocrity of her life and find some individuality somewhere under her husband's oppressive thumb. Her struggle gives the show a sense of purpose, but that's asking a bit much of such a burlesque comedy.
Although already quite long, the play would be helped by a little more plot development. Apparently Louise is so desperate for physical gratification that she succumbs to Versati's wooing in a matter of seconds. Since Louise at first appears to be the dutiful housewife, her subsequent scheming seems more than a little out of place.
Still, there are some truly funny moments in the show, and these deserve praise. Barkhimer and Wheeler are excellent foils for each other, and their banter is usually quite fresh. Versati's attempt to educate Theo about philosophy is classic Steve Martin; Versati states that it was Descartes who said "we exist." "Someone had to say that?" Theo retorts.
The theatre is pleasantly intimate, and there really is no such thing as a bad seat. Despite the unusual location, the house is professional and well-staffed.
Not every show needs to be deep, but it does need to be unpredictable, surprising or witty. "The Underpants," while not exactly a waste of time, isn't very fulfilling. It is good for a cheap laugh, but, like most superficial gratifications (as I'm sure Louise would attest), it does not really justify the cost or the effort.
