How's this for a twist? Board members of Milwaukee's Renaissance Theaterworks see a new comedy in Chicago. The playwright is Michael Frayn (Noises Off). The group loves the play but hates the title, Chinamen, which they felt would be offensive and really has nothing to do with the plot. So they contact Frayn and ask if it would be okay to change the title. He agrees, and so Renaissance Theaterworks now presents Barney & Bee. This title makes sense, because Barney and Bee are two of the play's main characters. They are a long-married but now separated couple. By any name, Barney & Bee is an absolute delight.
As the play opens, two of Barney and Bee's friends are making last-minute plans to put finishing touches on a dinner party. As they place silverware around the top of the dinner table, the idle conversation gets around to the invited guests. The wife, Jo, mentions that two of the guests include Bee and her new, younger boyfriend. Bee wants everyone to meet him, it seems. The husband's face goes ashen. He admits that he just bumped into Barney on the street and, forgetting that the couple has split, says, casually, "See you tonight at dinner."
That comment sparks an uproarious sequence of events. Much like Noises Off, timing is crucial to the success of this play. After scrambling around for a solution, the couple decides to entertain all of their guests in separate rooms. This sitcom-type situation could easily have been played out by the cast of "The Honeymooners" or "The Dick Van Dyke Show." (One can easily imagine Laura Petrie's wavering cry, "Ohhhh, Robbbb.") However, Barney & Bee is much cleverer than that. The play's two-person cast must play ALL the characters who come to dinner, as well as the dinner party hosts. Through clever dialogue and staging (beautifully directed by Tami Workentin), the two actors are off and running literally. How they manage to exit stage right, change costumes and enter stage left only moments later without huffing and puffing is completely amazing. Some members of the audience may figure out how the trick is done (no hints here). But that doesn't lessen the joy of seeing two fine comedic actors at the prime of their game.
Norman Moses, who plays the host and as well as Barney, is astonishing. Laura Gray, who plays the hostess, Bee and perhaps another character, is a fine match for Moses. As the evening progresses, both actors must get progressively more plastered (no matter which character they are playing). To keep the play afloat for 90 minutes requires actors with years of training, not to mention natural talent. Thankfully, Renaissance Theaterworks has both.
Aside from a few of the play's most ridiculous moments, anyone who has hosted a dinner party-from-hell can relate to the situation presented in Barney & Bee.
