Search for true love in 'The Real Thing' leads characters astray

Imagine being two years into a marriage and realizing your wife is having an affair. Do you immediately confront her? Do you sit back and hope she comes back to you? Do you break it off and run away?

In Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing," all of these themes are addressed. Don't fret too much though. This is a comedy with serious themes, not a drama.

The play begins with a man confronting his wife about having an affair. In the next scene, we come to find out that they were just acting in a play.

Max (Bryan Parker), who played the husband, is just friends with Charlotte (Michelle Pritchard), who played the wife. Then life imitates art and we find out their spouses, Henry (Arthur Wilhite) and Annie (Brenna Flesh), are actually seeing each other.

If it sounds a little complex, don't be fooled. It starts out that way and then it boils down to a fairly simple narrative that centers on Henry and Annie while they search for true love and cope with infidelity.

All of the actors turn in satisfying performances, especially Wilhite, who carries an English accent throughout the play. What is impressive about Wilhite's take on Henry is that at first we have a hard time tolerating his attitude and by the end we actually sympathize with what is going on around him.

In addition, Flesh does a great job of capturing Annie's character, a free-spirited woman who has difficulty feeling guilt when she pursues men outside of marriage.

On a high note

The River City Players production is directed by Steve Ruppel, a veteran member who will be moving to Chicago the day after the play's final production. Ruppel has an obvious affection for the play as he knows this is likely the last time he will ever get to be see these actors and crew members. He wants to leave on a high note.

Stoppard's play is set in London in the 1980s, but Ruppel inventively mixes past and present, British and American, creating art that transcends the boundaries of time and place. The costumes are from different decades and only two of the characters speak with English accents, but it doesn't distract the audience from the story.

Stoppard, who wrote "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead" and the screenplay for "Shakespeare in Love," has a knack for witty dialogue. Although there are some serious bits, it's hard not to laugh at the strange and sharp things the characters say as they try to figure out if the love they have is actually the real thing.

sludwig@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 211

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WANT TO GO?

* What: "The Real Thing" dinner theater

* Where: River City Yacht Club

* When: June 23 and 24; show-only June 22, doors open at 6:30 p.m.

* Info: 334-0954