Andrew McNee, Kimberley Sustad, Jonathon Young

Bernard (Jonathon Young), a successful architect in swinging 60’s Paris, is even more successful with the ladies. In fact, he juggles the hearts of three air hostesses who jet in and out of his groovy bachelor pad: Gloria (Kimberley Sustad), Gabriella (Moya O’Connell), and Gretchen (Colleen Wheeler), aka “America,” “Italy,” and “Germany.” But when Boeing introduces a faster jet, Bernard’s precise romantic timetable goes hysterically off course and turbulence looms.
 
Written in 1960, Boeing-Boeing is the most performed French play in the world. The original Paris run lasted 19 years; this classic farce about Bernard the swinging bachelor remains an irresistible audience draw today. The 2008 Broadway revival won two Tony Awards.

Kimberley Sustad, Jonathon Young
[Kimberley Sustad, Jonathon Young]
 
Asked to comment on Boeing-Boeing’s continuing popularity, Arts Club Theatre director David Mackay says, “The simple answer is that the structure of this farce puts the characters in comic situations that remain ludicrously funny today. For all our incredible social and technological advancements made over the past fifty years, a good farce can exemplify that quality in human nature that for every step forward there’s a banana peel to take us two steps back.”

Swiss-born Marc Camoletti was a prolific playwright during the latter half of the 20th century. In 1960, he wrote Boeing-Boeing, with which his name has become synonymous. Camoletti’s works have been translated into 18 languages, produced in 55 countries, adapted for television or film on 14 occasions, attended by an estimated 20 million people, and watched in a recorded version by half a billion people.

Andrew McNee, Kimberley Sustad, Jonathon Young

Boeing-Boeing: A Mile-High Comedy

Dates: January 24 to February 24; Tuesdays, 7:30 pm; Wednesday to Saturday, 8 pm; Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, 2 pm matinées
Venue: Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage, 2750 Granville Street, Vancouver
Tickets: $29 to $65, including taxes and fees; available online or via phoning the Arts Club Box Office at 604.687.1644.

All photos by David Cooper.

No Comments

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.