Word: manningham
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...takes a portrait off the wall and hides it behind a cupboard and when his wife enters the parlor, Mr. Manningham authoritatively interrogates her on the whereabouts of his missing painting. Getting frantic and confused, Mrs. Manningham admits that she must have hidden the thing, quite unbeknownst to her own conscious mind. Mr. Manningham's conclusion is that she must be crazy...
...deal, you think? Well, just try to remember that this is Victorian England, and the entire ambiance of constipation is no coincidence. This aptly illustrates the play's only shortcoming--the wan sense of humor in the early scenes. Innes McDade's Mrs. Manningham is believably portrayed throughout the production, but during that first scene, it is astounding how easily she is made to cry and wail and grovel and admit that she is crazy. A little temperance would have been as welcome as a sedative in the Fenway Park bleachers...
...even Mr. Manningham can't be all bad. And even Mrs. Manningham can't be all that ridiculous. The way these two work themselves up over misplaced painting and lost grocery bills is really silly. Indeed, she is so neurotic and he so didactic that the couple resembles an unlikely marriage of Diane Keaton and H.L. Mencken...
...COMIC relief comes never too soon in the person of Rough (that's right), a feisty and eccentric ole London detective, who sweeps in with a bottle of Scotch whiskey and the story of an ancient crime commited right in Mrs. Manningham's parlor. John Guerrasio brings the play to life with his odd characterization. Mrs. Manningham settles down, Mr. Manningham's motives are revealed, and Rough sprouts about the stage with his Holmesian moustache and pipe, becoming both the saving touch of credibility to the play, but also the final measure of mystery that escalates this belated tale...
...Manningham hides in her room with a headache and her servant, Nancy (Wendy Meri Borow) seduces Mr. Manningham, Rough discovers the reason for Mr. Manningham's hostile posture towards his wife. And finally, just finally, this thing gets interesting...