Hard-boiled detective Sam Spade is solving crimes and slaying funny bones in a laugh-filled reimagining of “The Maltese Falcon,” a world premiere at North Coast Repertory Theatre.
Hewing faithfully to the 1930 novel by Dashiell Hammett and the 1941 film starring Humphrey Bogart, the plot revolves around the whereabouts of a priceless, jewel-encrusted statue of a falcon and the femme fatale, unscrumptious collector and hired thugs all willing to resort to deceit, betrayal and murder to claim it. The gifted cast takes on these roles and a multitude of police officers, hotel detective, district attorney, a lawyer, an ill-fated sea captain, an unfaithful wife, a faithful secretary and more.
The action begins when Sam Spade and his partner Miles Archer receive an unannounced office visit by Brigid O’Shaughnessy, a woman with enough aliases to fill a phone book. Soon thereafter, Archer is shot dead, O’Shaughnessy takes a powder and Spade is looking down the barrel of a gun belonging to Joel Cairo who works for the greedy, manipulative Kasper Gutman who is obsessed with possessing the bird.
While the play is a parody, director Todd Nielsen wisely avoids having the actors mimic the indelible screen performances by Bogart, Mary Astor, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet. Making the roles their own are Richard Baird as Spade, Shelley Regner as O’Shaughnessy, Louis Lotorto as Cairo and Daniel A. Stevens as Gutman. Regina Fernandez does double duty as the story’s narrator and as secretary extraordinaire Effie Perine who keeps the office running, proactively hands Spade files before he requests them and offers her apartment to O’Shaughnessy when she needs a hideout from gunmen. “You’re a damned good man, sister,” Spade quips.
Full of metaphors and similes, the comic tone is less knee slapping and closer to dad jokes. Rapid-fire wisecracks and scene changes at times make for a dizzying storyline that is mirrored in Marty Burnett’s set design of off-kilter, movable panels. Light designer Matthew Novotny infuses these elements with moody noir shades of blue and purple. Office scenes feature Venetian-blind slashes of light. Projection design by Matt FitzGerald.
Costume designer Elisa Benzoni and associate designer Grace Wong outfit the men in three-piece suits featuring broad, padded shoulders together with wide-legged, high-waisted pants. The women’s wardrobe favors figure-hugging dresses, pleated plaid skirt, pullover sweater with sequin accents, T-strap Mary Janes and furs. Dandy character Joel Cairo receives special sartorial touches such as a richly colored vest, red pocket square, lapel boutonniere and attention-grabbing white spats accenting his dark shoes. Needless to say, there are trench coats galore. Hair and wigs design by Peter Herman.
In a story full of fedoras, hats off to on-stage Foley artist Liam Sullivan whose split-second timing of a cable car’s clanging bell, phone rings, ice cubes landing into empty glasses, the pouring of booze, doors opening and closing after their locks have been thrown, gunshots and face slaps draw well-earned audience applause. So, too, a lengthy slow-motion fight scene in which the combatants appear elevated off the stage in defiance of gravity. A nice touch is Spade lighting a cigarette before landing a powerful right hook.
Sound design and music composer Ian Scot are honky-tonk riffs and lush movie-score quality orchestration. Courtesy of props designer Rai Feltmann, Sam’s office features a rotary-dial phone, black desk lamp, endless supply of cigarettes and, fittingly, a copy of the novel “The Maltese Falcon.”
by Lynne Friedmann
