Fair Game

One of the tasks which Messrs. Titcomb et al. have seen fit to assign me is the reviewing of second rate dramatic productions. I found that Fair Game, which opened and closed at the Boston Summer Playhouse last week, fell easily in this category.

The story is about a middle-aged wolf, a New York garment manufacturer, who lusts after his newest model, a young divorcee fresh from East Oshkosh. The Stanley Woolf Players production was sloppy, and seemed inadequately rehearsed.

Benny Adler, as the leering president of "Winkler's Frock," was familiar with the part, but not with the lines. His burlesque house technique and his insistence on separating every vaguely amusing sentence and delivering it as a punchline increased the weakness of an already disjointed dialogue.

The other actors, including a wisely anonymous George Spelvin, seemed to have lacked a director. And it was rather disconcerting that a pair of shoes which was taken off in January (act I) had not been removed from the stage by June (Act III).

With some direction, and realignment by Adler, Fair Game could have been a fresh Sam Levenesque comedy. It wasn't. Fair Game was to have been the first production in a season package: the remainder of the season has been cancelled and the Summer Playhouse will announce a replacement next week.