Coinciding with this year's Fall Fest, Brandeis Players presented a production of Boeing-Boeing, a 1960s comical farce. The play, written by French playwright Marc Camoletti, was originally written in French and translated into English. In 1991, the Guinness Book of Records declared Boeing-Boeing as the most performed French play since its first staging at the Apollo Theatre of London in 1962.

With a cast of only six actors, Boeing-Boeing encourages each actor to show off their talents, and each Brandeis student truly captured his or her respective role. Bernard (Austin Koenigstein '17) is a single, flirtatious American living in France, happily engaged and enjoying life. The twist is that Bernard is engaged to three women: Gloria (Corrie Legge '14), Gabriella (Lisa Galperin '14) and Gretchen (Joanna Nix '14). All three fianc?(c)es are flight attendants for different airlines whose flight schedules cross the globe, allowing Bernard to keep his fianc?(c)es unaware of each other. That is, until one fateful night full of delayed flights, surprise visits and unexpected schedule changes.

In the morning, Gloria is getting ready to leave for her flight, and Bernard hastily pushes her out the door, when his old friend Robert (Ray Trott '16) arrives. Robert, who is from Wisconsin, plans to settle down in Paris. Bernard welcomes him to stay in his apartment. Gloria, who is American, leaves, and in comes Gabriella, the Italian woman. However, Bernard's carefully calculated flight plans and detailed arrangements promptly self-destruct as all three women announce their respective changes of plans. This unfortunate obstacle is the entire basis of the play and was provoked even as Bernard explained his perfect setup to Robert.

With Gretchen, the German woman, on her way, Bernard basically forces Gabriella to go to the country for a romantic evening, leaving Gretchen with the impression that Bernard left on business. However, the real situation-and comedy-appears when all three women are in the small apartment and Bernard and Robert do all they can to keep them apart. 

I have to admit, I wasn't a fan of the script and found it generally boring, though specific lines made me laugh. Because the entire two-and-a-half hour play took place in Bernard's apartment, the scenes seemed to drag on endlessly, punctuated only by a brief intermission. I don't understand how this is the most performed French play, but maybe I'm simply not understanding the theme of Boeing-Boeing. However, one redeeming quality that subtly addresses gender stereotypes was Gloria's own engagement to three men in different cities. Gloria proves that women can be just as deceptive in their dating as men.

As much as I disliked the play itself, the actors were amazing. Kelsey Segaloff '15 steals the show as Bernard's housekeeper Berthe. With her thick French accent perfectly executed, Segaloff was incredibly funny, not to mention her exasperated facial expressions and precise body language. She also wore-and rocked-a short, black wig and a French maid outfit.
Trott's role was similar to other goofy roles he has portrayed in previous productions, as he carried the bulk of the farcical antics while keeping the fianc?(c)es apart. His nervous and jumpy portrayal of Robert was ideal as he managed the disaster Bernard created. Trott and Koenigstein are both excellent when interacting with other characters, as seen in their dialogue with the three fianc?(c)es while juggling Bernard's situation.

Of the fianc?(c)es, I particularly enjoyed Nix's portrayal of the feisty, strong-willed Gretchen, imitated accent and all. Nix, who wears a yellow uniform, is intense, dramatic and funny all at the same time while interacting with Robert, who hits on her incessantly. Legge portrays a much more flirtatious and sexual character-a personality that is aesthetically portrayed by her red flight attendant uniform. Legge does an excellent job at balancing the "cute" behavior without being overly clich?(c). Galperin, who wears blue as Gabriella, also does a perfect Italian accent and captures Gabriella's emotional state, as well as her anger and frustration over Bernard. All three women have distinct personalities and represent different stock character traits, as seen in their different color uniforms and reactions to Bernard's scheme.

I may not have appreciated the plot of the play but the six actors made the performance much more enjoyable as they showed off their talent through an array of acting skills. Though Brandeis Players only puts on one main stage production each year, I look forward to seeing all of the actors in more performances this year.
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