Review: Mr. & Mrs. Fitch
With Mr. and Mrs Fitch, Amphibian Stage Productions turns a vapid script into a great production. by Kris Noteboompublished Wednesday, April 18, 2012 1 comment
Fort Worth — regardless of reality, there are many born-and-raised Texans who ironically turn their noses up at the slightest notion of New York City. Just see the classic Old El Paso salsa commercials for reference.
Right or wrong, stereotypes exist, and just as the rest of the world assumes Texans go everywhere on horses and never leave home without their six shooter, Texans typically assume New Yorkers are liberal, elitist snobs, comically over-caricatured with their noses pointed straight in the air and eyes looking down the barrel of them.
This is the New York Douglas Carter Beane writes about in Mr. and Mrs. Fitch, a pig of a show on which Amphibian Stage Productions is currently trying to put lipstick, with surprisingly great success.
In some circles, Beane is considered a satirist, and with that in mind it's impossible to completely dismiss the sycophantic, gossip columnist couple as an exaggeration of New York society types. the Fitches (Bradley Campbell and Meg MacCary) are an obnoxious couple caught up in the glamorous world of the NYC upper crust. However, they occupy a precarious position that teeters just on the edge of the ivory tower. for they write a gossip column for one of the local papers. They're not actually members of the elite themselves, but it behooves the elite to rub elbows with them in an attempt to garner some positive press.
And to this end, the interloping couple amuses themselves with idiosyncratic nicknames they've made up for all of these people. It'd be one thing if these nicknames made casual appearances, but the couple exclusively refer to their subjects as ridiculous names like “Love Her, Used to Hate Her” and “Such Norman”. instead of coming off as the intended clever and witty, it instead comes off as a lame attempt to align themselves as equals, or even superiors, to this group.
If that weren't enough, the Fitches are also the most overly educated gossip columnists to ever walk the Earth. their dialogue is a neverending litany of literary and cultural references, one often taking time out to correct the other when they misquote something. call it cynical, but the next time a gossip writer, or any journalist for that matter, makes a joke about Marcel Proust, it might be the first time. in other words, this couple is so extreme in character that they just have to be some sort of parody, right?
And there's the bigger problem with the story. It's difficult to tell. the plot revolves around the anachronistic couple losing their grasp in the ever-changing world of media and society, losing out to blogs and online reporting and such. And as with any animal that sees its way of life threatened, they respond defensively by fabricating a story about a completely fabulous, but fictional, new socialite. this, of course, only after they fabricated another article about a party they didn't attend in which they included on the guest list someone who definitively wasn't there and were nearly fired by their editor.
Going along with the assumption that anyone would care, their creation is a hit and they reassert their position as the gossip columnists of record in the city. Until, of course, their creation takes a turn for the Frankenstein and they lose control of it.
Knowing that any good story must give its leads some sort of redemption, Beane peppers in a tissue thin storyline about Mr. Fitch wanting to be a novelist. it comes off as an afterthought by Beane after he realized it was impossible to care for these two characters as they are actually kind of despicable and have no real redeeming qualities. He had the right thought, it just didn't help.
To their eternal credit, the team at Amphibian does a bang up job in staging the otherwise repugnant show. Sean Joseph Urbantke's set makes excellent use of the space at the Sanders Theater, much better than most productions in the sadly underutilized but versatile black box. the two-story Manhattan apartment the Fitches reside in fits their character perfectly. An anachronistic cocktail that sees modernist-style white walls and simple furniture mixed with piles of classic books, an old piano and a vintage writing hutch. It's also set in the corner of the space, allowing for seating on two sides, and uses levels to help portray depth. It's definitely the highlight of the show.
Poor Campbell and MacCary. These are two clearly talented actors who fully inhabit their roles; roles that are one-dimensional and distasteful. the duo sells it, Beane's script just doesn't give them a lot to work with.
Director Krista Scott has overseen a successful show. Good writing can sometimes get a bad production and, as is the case here, bad writing can be elevated by a great production. Mr. and Mrs. Fitch is not without laughs and some enjoyment. And credit is due to Campbell and MacCary, but Scott is the project manager here and ultimately the success or failure lands on her shoulders. the show still isn't very good, but she's pulled off a slick, well-organized and well-cast production.
Beane, the Tony-nominated and Drama Desk Award-winning writer, trusts in his abilities a little too much here and all that's left is a vapid, shallow comedy of wits with a flimsy lesson and insufferable characters. from the perspective of the subjects they covered in New York society, it's no wonder people had developed an aversion to Mr. and Mrs. Fitch.
Comments: Dan R. Fletcher writes:Wednesday, April 18 at 11:05AM
Good work Kris. as a big fan of Sean Urbantke, the busy young Scenic Designer from the DC area, we appreciate your comments. looking forward to Merry Wives of Windsor in June, under direction of Dr. Walsh, at the TCU Hays Theater.
