A Flea in Her Ear: Hysterically Funny 

Trinity Repertory Company took a huge risk staging A Flea in Her Ear, a bawdy bedroom farce from French playwright Georges Feydeau (adapted by Curt Columbus). In lesser hands, this story about romantic complications and cheating spouses could have fallen flat. Fortunately, a stellar group of actors, under the smooth direction of Tyler Dobrowsky, have delivered a fast and funny show.

The plot: Raymonde Chandebise (Phyllis Kay) believes her husband Victor-Emmanuel’s lack of sexual interest is due to his having an extramarital affair. She enlists her friend Lucienne (Angela Brazil) to write a letter to Victor-Emmanuel in order to lure him to a hotel (the name is too raunchy to mention here) for a romantic romp. Meanwhile, Raymonde has a love interest of her own: Romain Tournel (Mauro Hantman).

Suffice to say that Raymonde’s plans go hilariously awry and the situations build to a wild comic climax. There are lots and lots of outlandish sight gags, slapstick and insane behavior. Is it over the top? Yes. Is it silly? Extremely. But it’s also a lot of fun. The audience I saw it with was roaring with laughter.

Fred Sullivan, Jr. is clearly having a ball in dual roles. In addition to playing Victor-Emmanuel, he portrays Pocket, the drunken bellhop who is Victor-Emmanuel’s lookalike. Sullivan’s facial expressions are a joy to watch. The large ensemble includes Stephen Thorne, who earns a lot of laughs as Camille, Victor-Emmanuel’s nephew who suffers from a speech impediment (he is unable to pronounce consonants). Joe Wilson, Jr. plays Ferallion, the hotel’s autocratic manager. Steve Kidd is a  sexually voracious German guest. Timothy Crowe shows up as Carlos, Lucienne’s deranged gun-wielding husband. Richard Donelly is a doctor with some bizarre sexual fetishes. Barbara Meek is Baptistine, Ferallion’s nutty aunt who works at the hotel.

Patrick Lynch’s set design is imaginative, particularly the look of the hotel.

A Flea in Her Ear is easily the funniest show I have seen in a very long time. It doesn’t contain any deep insights into human nature. It’s just 2 hours of good-natured zaniness. Sometimes people want to see a show and be transported away from the gloom of the real world, and this production accomplishes that beautifully.

A Flea in Her Ear runs March 26 through April 26 in Trinity Rep’s Dowling Theater. For more information, call the box office at 401.351.4242 or visit Trinity Rep’s website at trinityrep.com.