SEATTLE — “Intimate Exchanges” is really a clever play, well, hmmm, “plays,” that contain(s) lots of witty language that would definitely appeal to any wordsmith along with a multiplying premise that could easily be enjoyed by the mathematically minded as well.
Written by prolific playwright Alan Ayckbourn, “Intimate Exchanges” comprises eight plays all spawned from a single opening scene. So in reality, there are 16 different permutations.
That eight-play feat is rarely performed. But the people at ACT took on this show anyway, and staged two possible stories, each with two possible endings, for a total of four different plays. This, in itself, is no small feat indeed, what with two actors playing six characters in 24 different costumes featured in more than 30 changes averaging 30 second each.
So hats off to ACT’s master team of dressers and top-notch director Kurt Beattie. And hats off — and on, and off again — to actors Marianne Owen, who played Celia, Sylvie and Irene, and R. Hamilton Wright, who played Lionel, Toby and Miles.
Both these actors did a marvelous job of convincingly coming in and out of the multiple characters who were all uniquely different in their dialects, emotions, looks, ages and temperaments. Their command of each character, not to mention the chapters of dialogue they memorized, was incredibly impressive.
The premise upon which these multiple endings is built is the dysfunctional marriage of Celia and Toby and how their futures are determined depending upon the decisions they make. If Celia stays with Toby, then such-and-such happens. If Celia decides instead to leave Toby and follow her impulsive attraction for the ne’er-do-well gardener Lionel, then something entirely different happens.
In any scenario, the acting is first-rate and the back-and-forth between Toby and Celia evokes some of the best in coupling comedy, with flashes of George and Gracie Burns, “The Honeymooners” and Lucy and Desi Arnaz all coming to mind.
The one flaw in this clever scheme of multiple endings is that given the odds, there’s bound to be a weak ending in there somewhere. Such was the case the night I saw the show. Call me a child of too many “Godfather” remakes, but I was assuming — maybe even sickly hoping — that the fanatically obsessive Lionel would do something with that shovel other than just stick it in the ground.
But hey, if you don’t like the ending you are dealt, ACT is offering half-price tickets for those who want to see the play, well, hmmm, another permutation of the play, again.
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