Caught In The Net

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

In an explosive sold out extended run of Ray Cooney’s Run for Your Wife, Spotlight Theatre carries the momentum into the sequel, Caught In The Net, under Pat Payne’s definitive direction.

Clint Heyn, Bernie Cardell and Hailey Johnson in a scene from Spotlight’s production of Caught In The Net.

Bernie Cardell’s incarnation of the harried and flustered John Smith continues to shake, rattle and roll when forced to sit upside down in a chair, stand on his head, hide under a rug, wear a snorkel mask, and turn the English language into double speak clamoring for a way out of a keenly knotted harrowing calamity.

It’s been 15 years since John traipsed through Run For Your Wife. Now, the normally placid taxi cab driver supporting two families, living five minutes apart, runs into a blockbuster conundrum.

John and Bonnie Greene’s Mary of Wimbledon have a beautiful curious teen-age daughter, Vicky, played by Chesney Oxenham. No conundrum here.

John and Haley Johnson’s Barbara of Streatham have a handsome curious teen-age son, Gavin, played by Brad Greening. No conundrum here either.

Meeting on the Internet, Vicky and Gavin discover both their last names are Smith. Their father’s name is not only John, but also John Leonard, and both drive taxicabs. Now, there’s a conundrum. The kids decide they should meet. Vicky invites Gavin to tea enhanced by both Mary and Barbara’s approval.

Everything remains calm, cool, and collected until John discovers the plans going into a Cardell concocted tizzy.

Fortunately, for John, although much to the annoyance of Mary, Clint Heyn’s Stanley Gardner still lives upstairs. On his way to pick up his senile father for vacation, John stops him in his tracks turning mental, emotional Cardell summersaults to elicit Stanley’s assistance. Vicky and Gavin must not meet each other under any circumstance.

Heyn’s Stanley hilariously entangles himself with Mary tumbling from one lame brain excuse into another. John insists Stanley keep Gavin from entering the house. Stanley insists he needs to pick up his father. In the chaos Gavin does get inside mistaking Stanley for John, which Stanley reluctantly plays into. At the same time he must stop confused Mary from blowing his cover. John’s antics to keep Gavin from recognizing him and to keep Mary out of the way by sending her back to the kitchen over and over again would rival any circus acrobatic act by Cardell.

The hysterics are repeated when Vicky shows up at Barbara’s house. John’s panic insists upon keeping Barbara and Vicky apart. His cover can’t be blown under any circumstances keeping them both apart, at least for a while, locked in separate rooms.

As Run For Your Wife belonged to Cardell, Caught In The Net belongs to Cardell and Heyn who magnificently carries a good part of Act I with heightened expertise.

Greene and Johnson stand close behind with incredible strong support as Mary and Barbara.

However, another element wanders in to the rambunctious madcap mad house demanding a place in the sun as well as with his son. Bob Leggett wears the demented demeanor of Dad who thinks he’s in a hotel. Wandering in with a rubber-tubed ducky around his waist discombobulated over not being able to find the beach, Leggett knows how to make the most of this delightful character holding his own between Cardell and Heyn.

An outstanding magical artistic feature Leggett owns is his eyes controlled with expressive distinction. His eyes speak the lines not only for Dad but also in conjunction with the other characters.

Mari Geasair’s set design for Run for Your Wife remains basically the same with a few small embellishments. On a tight budget, this small theatre shows how a set can be dressed for peanuts while maintaining the integrity of a production so richly deserving.

In Act II Cardell’s John carries on a monologue for several seconds that takes the audience’s breath away running words into each other providing distinct enunciation as he bounces around the room giving instructions to baffled Stanley providing exact directions of what must happen, when, and how. This after John has spent several minutes under a rug and then rolled into it. All formulated to keep him from being identified by Gavin and Vicky. It’s a performance of a master in a masterful performance. In all honesty, it is as much fun to watch Stanley’s reaction as it is to watch John’s wild antics.

A true farce, Caught In the Net contains all of farcical identification with slamming doors, misidentification, concocted stories, incredible timing as characters run from room to room just missing each other, and characters locked in and out of rooms for the skimpiest explanations.

Cardell flies into comedic expertise. A stand out scene comes with John upside down in a chair appearing with a snorkel mask to keep Gavin from recognizing him. When Mary bursts into the room, John takes off with swimming motions explaining he is giving Stanley swimming lessons leaving her speechless and the audience in stitches.

One small weak chink stands out in this production through Greening and Oxenham’s hesitation forgetting on stage what it means to be teenagers. They have the talent. They have the ability but tend to stiffen while dropping their voices. Perhaps Cardell, Heyn, and Leggett intimidate them. Except for staunch outstanding actors like Greene and Johnson, who wouldn’t be intimidated by such controlled precision demonstrated by the three hilarious farcical actors? It’s normal and understandable for Greening and Oxenham to be intimidated. They just need to remember Gavin and Vicky are anything but intimidated. They are headstrong determined kids who are going to get together no matter what obnoxious barriers created by an off-the-wall excuse inventive wordsmith Stanley is, or a stand on his head, dive under the rug, sit upside down in a chair, lock them in their rooms chaotic creature John is, or a confused loose as a goose wandering loon Dad is. All they need to do is take a deep breath, concentrate on who they are, think Gavin-and-Vicky-type thoughts, and jump into the fray with all four feet along with Johnson and Greene who are forced to keep a straight face throughout each episode. Definitely no small trick.

When he’s run out of excuses and explanations, John reluctantly concludes he must come clean with the truth certain that life, as he knows it, is over. Mary and Barbara provide a logical conclusion satisfying everyone but Dad who still doesn’t know where he is.

If you saw Run for Your Wife, you’ll not want to miss Spotlight Theatre’s sequel under any circumstance. If you missed Wife because of its sold out status, it still has a couple of performances on its extended schedule. You’ll not want to miss Caught In The Net simply because it is wonderfully written, exquisitely performed, logically directed in spite of its illogical premise, and because it is honest hysterical funny. Don’t wait to call for reservations to avoid the dreaded “Sorry, sold out” refrain.