Romp With ‘Country Wife’ a Fun but Long Affair

The rakish Mr. Horner pretends he’s a eunuch so he can safely seduce other men’s wives. But he needs a new approach with the title character of William Wycherley’s “The Country Wife.”

This lass is so naive, she doesn’t know she ought to conceal her glee over Horner’s overtures from her rabidly jealous husband. Yet she eventually learns to dissemble with the rest of them. Her lesson in sexual duplicity is highlighted by the final gesture in Sabin Epstein’s staging of Wycherley’s 1673 comedy at A Noise Within.

Too bad that gesture occurs more than three hours into the play. Wycherley’s bawdy Restoration-era intrigues entertain, but they don’t justify that much time.

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Then again, “The Country Wife” is seldom staged; maybe we should be grateful that A Noise Within doesn’t condense or otherwise soft-pedal it. This Glendale company, in newly expanded quarters that vault it out of the pack of sub-100-seat theaters, takes its mission seriously even when the material is as light as “The Country Wife.”

Wycherley paints a picture of a society in which philandering is expected, at least between married women and single men. Most married men are cuckolds, yet there is still enough shame in it that everyone makes outlandish attempts to keep extramarital dalliances under the covers, so to speak.

The most notable feature of Angela Balogh Calin’s set is a wall of sternly religious portraits looking down on all the hanky-panky--a rather heavy-handed reminder of the hypocrisy at work.

Patrick O’Connell plays the primary playboy of Wycherley’s world as a dissolute but charismatic creature whose long, unkempt hair is in striking contrast to the elaborate wigs worn by the other men; presumably he has so many flings that he lacks the time and patience to worry about wigs.

Gail Shapiro’s title character is more of a country bumpkinette than a virginal ingenue. She wields a broadly comic accent (“zick” for “sick,” “zweat” for “sweat”), and she attracts Horner not with her look so much as her spirit--she’s eager to experience anything the big city has to offer. Her husband, Mr. Pinchwife, is played by Mark Bramhall with a remarkably pinched face; he appears headed for a coronary any day now.

Pinchwife’s sister (Emily Heebner) carefully sucks a lollipop while observing the shenanigans of others. She’s more attracted to one of Horner’s cronies (Robert Pescovitz, some of whose words are unclearly spoken) than to her betrothed, Mr. Sparkish (John A. Billingsley), who’s cheerfully impervious to everyone’s contempt.

Al Rossi is properly greasy as the chief chump who is most duped by Horner’s eunuch story, and Anna C. Miller plays his wife with a rowdy sense of abandon underneath her supercilious facade.

Clark Taylor’s music suggests the sound of wagging tongues.

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“The Country Wife,” A Noise Within, 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m.; Oct. 16, 17, 25, 26, Nov. 8, 13, 8 p.m.; Oct. 20, Nov. 17, 7 p.m.; Nov. 9, 17, 2 p.m. $20-$24. (818) 546-1924. Running time: 3 hours, 15 minutes.

Patrick O’Connell: Mr. Horner

Robert Pescovitz: Mr. Harcourt

Robertson Dean: Dr. Dorilant

Mark Bramhall: Mr. Pinchwife

John A. Billingsley: Mr. Sparkish

Al Rossi: Sir Jasper Fidget

Gail Shapiro: Mrs. Margery Pinchwife

Emily Heebner: Mrs. Alithea

Anna C. Miller: My Lady Fidget

Lisa Berntsen: Mrs. Dainty Fidget

Hisa Takakuwa: Mrs. Squeamish

Tressa Sharbough: Old Lady Squeamish

Mitchell Edmonds: A Quack

Becca Rauscher: Lucy

William Wycherley’s comedy. Directed by Sabin Epstein. Set by Angela Balogh Calin. Costumes by Alex Jaeger. Lighting by Paula J. Dinkel. Music by Clark Taylor. Sound by Charles Brisette. Wigs and hair by David Larsen. Stage manager Lisa Bacani.