Diary of an ICT Intern: Why you should see The Heir Apparent

June 25th, 2015

Paige Lindsey White, Adam J. Smith, Rebecca Spencer, Adam von Almen, Matthew Henerson, Wallace Angus Bruce & Suzanne Jolie Narbonne in The Heir Apparent

International City Theatre is excited to introduce Amy Patton, our Summer Administrative and Production Intern. She will be working with us this summer thru the Los Angeles County Arts Commission Internship program, and will be producing a Blog series entitled “Diary of an ICT Summer Intern.”

If you’re looking at the remaining half of ICT’s season lineup, wondering to yourself whether The Heir Apparent is the right play for you, take my word, it is.

This play is exceedingly funny, and as Charlie Chaplain once said, “A day without laughter is a day wasted.” So don’t waste your day, get your laugh quota watching some of the best stage actors around bring David Ives’ characters to life through quick and clever rhyming verse.

An adaptation of a 17th century comedy, this play is pleasantly accessible to all. The subtle historical and social references give the humor a certain air of sophistication, yet the consistent slapstick and crass (yet classy) innuendos break up the cunning writing so that it is not intimidating. Ives strikes the right balance for anyone ready for a good giggle, chuckle, chortle, guffaw or occasional hurrah. Not to mention the performances of the actors themselves.

Learning an all-rhyming script is no easy task. The very fact that the talented cast is able to master their lines and recite them not only eloquently, but very believably too, makes this a high quality performance. What is wonderful about the delivery of this play is the way the actors avoid the easy sing-songy trap of rhyming lines. They say each line with such characterization and moxie that you almost forget that the play is in rhyming verse.

The play is fresh and sharp, and has a few tricks up its sleeves for the viewers. Once you think you’ve got a rhyming French comedy re-write all figured out, the plot takes new twists, leading to cross-dressing disguises and a semi-conscious episodic uncle wandering the set in a zombie-like state mirroring the uncertainty of his mortality.

Will Rogers believed that everything is funny “as long as it’s happening to someone else.” So have a laugh at poor lovesick and money hungry Eraste’s expense. The Heir Apparent runs through July 12 Thursdays-Sunday. Tickets can be purchased online at ictlongbeach.org or by calling (562) 436-4610.