“Menage a Quatre” reviewed

Gone are the days of yore when sex farces frolicked across the theatrical landscape like so many smarmy bunnies, slamming doors and likely featuring partial nudity, if one lived in a part of the country that didn’t frown upon such things. ’Twas truly a golden age, when… Oh, wait – most of these plays were terrible. There’s a reason they’re seldom produced anymore. Peter Lefcourt’s Menage a Quatre, however, is an exception to this rule. It is about sex, but it’s also about love and friendship and the difficulty of forgiveness. It’s quite funny, but it isn’t a farce. The world premiere production at the Davidson/Valentini Theatre at the Los Angeles LGBT Center is a clever and well-acted comedy that finds humor and conflict in the aftermath of infidelity.

Cardiac surgeon Jeannie (Carly J. Casey) is married to lawyer Gary (Jeremy S. Walker). Sculptor Meg (Sarah Wolter) is married to contractor Reuben (Matthew Downs). Reuben and Gary are best friends, which makes it awkward that Reuben is having an affair with Jeannie. Gary starts having suspicions about Jeannie’s unexplained absences and what he sees as guilty behavior, so he hires a private detective who calls himself Ezra Pound (Daniel Montgomery) to investigate. The question is, is it better to know the truth about infidelity, and if it is indeed happening, what is the right thing to do about it?

Casey is good as the guilty but surprisingly practical Jeannie, who makes the suggestion that throws everyone into disarray. Walker does fine work as the initially confident Gary, who faces his new situation with anger and frustration. Wolter excels as the sarcastic and pissed Meg, who doesn’t want to talk about her husband’s betrayal but is concentrated on getting him back for it. Downs is terrific as Reuben, who seems more annoyed at being caught than being regretful, and he gets plenty of laughs in a scene in which he can’t pronounce the letter “r” correctly after being punched in the face. Montgomery, however, steals the show in multiple roles, hilariously interacting with the audience, getting every possible laugh from the script and some that probably weren’t in there.

Director Ryan O’Connor stages the show expertly, getting the most from the small theater space, and Brian Christopher Russell’s projection design is superb, adding massively to the show’s visual flair. Lefcourt’s writing is smart and amusing, having the narrator define all of the group as people who “did yoga and avoided gluten” and having a guilty character blithely try to reframe the affair as “therapeutic infidelity.” It’s a very funny play, but it doesn’t skirt the damaged relationships at its core, which makes one care about the characters more.

So even though Menage a Quatre is about the results of an affair, it isn’t really a traditional sex farce but more of a comedy/drama. The acting is great, and the laughs are plentiful. If you’re interested in seeing it, though, don’t hesitate – it closes this coming Sunday, August 17^th.

Menage a Quatre is presented by Sweet Talk Productions at the Davidson/Valenti Theatre at the Los Angeles LGBT Center and plays through Aug. 17. Tickets are available at https://www.onstage411.com/newsite/show/play_info.asp?show_id=7415.