FRANKLIN, NJ—The current local theater season isn’t suffering from a lack of dark comedies.
Villagers Theater made its own contribution to the genre with Billy Van Zant and Jane Milmore’s crowd pleasing Wrong Window.
Stage and screenwriting partners, Van Zant and Milmore hail from in New Jersey, and are among the most-produced playwriting teams in the world.
Loosely based on Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic Rear Window, the play concerns itself with recently reconciled Jeff and Marnie, well played by Danny Siegel and Samantha Ambler,Â
Along with visiting neighbors Robbie and Midge, played by the talented Phil Fugate and Shawna Lagan, the couples notice something suspicious across the alleyway.
What ensues is cases of mistaken identity, physical comedy, extramarital affairs, apartment switches and a corpse popping up at the most inconvenient of times.
Bree Guell’s set design took full advantage of Villagers’ large stage and Ken Guell’s lighting plan enhanced that design.
Both are important components for a play that takes place in two parallel apartments on the tenth floor of a Manhattan building.
The rest of the cast included: Joe Buz, Becca Dagnall, Rupert Hinton and N. Kent Loudon, along with director Eric Walby, each of whom did a fine job.
The only minuses were some cumbersome scene changes and the difficulty of distinguishing one apartment from the other during the first switch.
All in all, Â it was good opening night for an enjoyable play.
