George Bernard Shaw fans won’t find a more sparklingly performed or exquisitely designed production of Misalliance than the one now playing at A Noise Within, and even if like me you find Shaw plays overly long and talky, this one’s suddenly zippy second act will have you singing its praises.

Shaw’s 1910 romantic comedy of manners centers around two well-to-do families in early 20th-century Surrey, the nouveaux riche Tarletons and the “old money” Summerhayses, about to be united when Mr. and Mrs. Tarleton’s (Peter Van Norden and Deborah Strang) comely daughter Hypatia (Erika Soto) marries “little squit of a thing” Bentley Summerhays (Josey Montana McCoy), the latter of whom has Hypatia’s brother Johnny (Riley Shanahan) so driven to distraction that he smashes a punch bowl out of frustration with his spoiled young friend.

Life in the English countryside and a cute-but-insipid fiancé like Bentley leave Hypatia longing for an “adventure to drop out of the sky,” a wish that comes true when a single-engine, two-passenger airplane makes an emergency landing in the Tarletons’ garden and out of it steps the dashingly handsome Joey Perceval (Dan Lin), precisely the kind of young man to turn a girl like Hypatia’s heart away from a spoiled twit like Bentley, coincidentally a former schoolmate of Joey’s.

Still, Joey’s arrival quite literally out of the blue pales in comparison to that of Lina Szczepanowska (Trisha Miller), the adventurous young Polish woman who piloted the plane and is, in her own words “strong, skilful, brave, independent, and unbought,” that is to say, “all that a woman ought to be.”

From here on in, Misalliance positively explodes with passion and surprises, not the least of which is the arrival of pistol-packing anarchist Julius Baker, aka “Gunner” (Joshua Bitton), there to settle a score with the elder Tarleton.

I’ve written previously about how talky I find much of George Bernard Shaw’s oeuvre, and one need only glance at Misalliance in print to see how frequently his characters converse in endlessly long paragraphs, which is why try as I might (and despite the best efforts of even the finest of casts), I too often find myself tuning out when Shaw’s characters start expounding.

Not only that, but in these days when “ninety minutes, no intermission” have become four of my favorite words in the English language, a play with twice that running time (factoring in intermission) can overstay its welcome.

Fortunately for A Noise Within audiences, director Guillermo Cienfuegos proves himself a master at eliciting one frothy performance after another with plenty of physical comedy hijinks added in along the way.

And it’s not every play that features eight wedding proposals, a handsome young gun-toting anarchist hiding in a portable Turkish bath, and an airplane crash-landing into the garden of an English country mansion.

The exquisite Soto is the effervescent epitome of ingenue spunk, McCoy is utterly adorable as the petulant, pouty Bentley, and Shananhan is pompous perfection as Johnny.

Lin is as dashing as can be as Joey, Bitton scores laugh after laugh as the volatile, headstrong Gunner, and Stuart once again reveals chameleonlike versatility as the ever so refined Lord Summerhays,

Van Norden is a blustery delight as Mr. Tarleton opposite the never less than wonderful Strang’s shrewd and motherly Mrs. Tarleton.

Scene-stealingest of all is the absolutely sensational Miller as the sexy, opinionated, supremely self-confident Lena.

Fight director Kenneth R. Merckx, Jr. choreographs more than one side-splitting tussle along the way, and you won’t find a more visually stunning production in town than Misalliance.

Angela Balogh Calin’s drop-dead gorgeous set and Christine Cover Ferro’s equally ravishing costumes have been breathtakingly lit by Ken Booth, with Christopher Moscatiello’s sound design providing an impeccable mix of original musical underscoring and just-right effects.

Rachel Berney Needleman is assistant director. Stephen Taylor is prop designer. Tony Valdes is wig and makeup designer. Cici Mao is assistant lighting designer. Andrea Odinov is dialect coach. Miranda Johnson-Haddad is dramaturg. Angela Sonner is stage manager and Hope Matthews is assistant stage manager. Lucy Pollak is publicist.

Anthony Adu, Samuel Garnett, Dylan La Rocque, Jacqueline Misaye, Cassandra Marie Murphy, MJ Seiber, Cody Sloan, and Pam Trotter are understudies.

Though given a choice between an Oscar Wilde comedy and one written by George Bernard Shaw, I’d gladly for Oscar any day of the week, all-around effervescent performances go a long way towards overcoming the wordiness of Misalliance’s first act at A Noise Within, and once Trisha Miller’s audacious, adventurous aviatrix has landed, ANW’s 2023-2024 season closer takes off and soars.

A Noise Within, 3352 East Foothill Blvd, Pasadena.
www.ANoiseWithin.org

–Steven Stanley
May 18, 2024
Photos: Craig Schwartz

Tags: A Noise Within, George Bernard Shaw, Los Angeles Theater Review