Review: (Vancouver) Boeing-Boeing

Andre McNee (photo credit: David Cooper)

A funny as ever

Arts Club’s take on classic comedy is polished and hilarious

by Chris Lane

The Arts Club takes audiences back to the high-flying 1960s with Boeing-Boeing, a classic farce filled with lies, love and lust.

The protagonist, Bernard, thinks he has it all figured out: he has three gorgeous fiancées who are never in town at the same time. They’re all flight attendants, and he carefully picked them because he knows that their schedules will never overlap. That is, until the advent of a new, faster plane that throws everything out of whack, so that he has to scramble to hide them from one another as they all end up in town at once.

Boeing-Boeing is not a thinking play by any stretch of the imagination, but it does a wonderful job at keeping the audience in stitches at the fast-paced comedy. It looks great, with a classy set by Amir Ofek and stylish air hostess outfits by Nancy Bryant. The play is very funny, although it does have some moments where the characters are just a bit too stupid to be believable, and moments that make you feel a bit uncomfortable at how embarrassing they’re being.

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The play features a strong cast of comic actors. Colleen Wheeler truly brings down the house right from her hilarious first scene as Gretchen, an over-the-top, intensely passionate Lufthansa stewardess. Nicola Lipman steals scene after scene as Berthe, the cynical maid who frequently complains about having to help Bernard juggle his various lovers. Jonathon Young is a good fit for the lead role of Bernard, while Andrew McNee has some wonderfully comic moments as his gawky friend Robert. Kimberley Sustad and Moya O’Connell are fiery as the American and Italian air hostesses.

Boeing-Boeing is a tried and true comedy that doesn’t try to say anything meaningful, but it succeeds at being just some good old-fashioned fun. On opening night, the theatre served up cake, which my friend said was a lot like the play: light and fluffy. I enjoyed every bite.

Boeing-Boeing runs until February 24 at the Arts Club’s Stanley Theatre.