Updated: Monday, Jan. 29, 2001 at 22:27 CST


`Fuddy Meers' reflects well on Circle cast

By Mark Lowry
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH -- There are twists and turns throughout David Lindsay-Abaire's `Fuddy Meers,' which had its area premiere at Circle Theatre this weekend, a mere year and a few months after its acclaimed off-Broadway engagement. But, in the tradition of not spoiling surprises for future audiences, the secrets shan't be revealed here.

Well, maybe just a teensy one, in the sense that, although it unlocks the key to this oddball comedy, it's still not a major spoiler.

The play's title comes from Gertie's (Dorothy Sanders) stroke-speak for the words "funny mirrors," as in those warped fun house glasses that offer a distorted image of oneself.

All of the characters in `Fuddy Meers' are so quirky that they seem to have become skewed versions of what they once were. And in return, audience members might find themselves reflected in concepts that are so off-the-wall, they can't be too removed from real life.

It's actually less metaphoric than it appears.

Is there a better way to illustrate Claire (Sara Rankin Weeks) in the throes of a mid- life crisis than to make her a psychogenic amnesiac, someone who loses her memory with each night's sleep and wakes up only to have to relearn everything about herself from her husband, Richard, (Terry Seago ) and a helpful photo album that he has constructed for her? In her case, the cycle literally repeats everyday: Richard wakes her; tells her who she is and what she likes to wear; about their son, the dope- smoking, Beavis-like Kenny (TCU student Grant V. Denney, in a promising, funny performance) and doesn't laugh at the same joke she makes every time (she laughs at being ironic after stating "if memory serves me right ...")

On this particular day, however, the Limping Man (Gray Palmer), a half-blind, half-deaf man with a deformed right ear and a heavy lisp, kidnaps Claire. Then he and Millet (Scott Milligan), who expresses himself best through a potty- mouthed sock puppet, take Claire to Gertie's house in hopes of fleshing out their plan. In searching for her, Richard and Kenny encounter Heidi (another fine turn from April Stroud-Johnston), a woman who may or may not be a police officer.

TCU's George Brown, who last directed the superlative `The Woman in Black' at Circle, helms a comically exceptional cast. The talented and experienced Sanders makes speaking like a stroke victim appear to be effortless; Milligan follows his work in Circle's `The Food Chain' with another brilliant, farcical turn; and Palmer's ability to limp, lisp and still keep spot-on timing is exhaustive. Weeks could tone down the wide-eyed bewilderment when her character is in self- discovery, but she really comes through in the second act.

If only real life were this much fun. According to Lindsay-Abaire, it is.

`Fuddy Meers,' which contains a lot of foul language, runs through Feb. 24 at Circle Theatre, 230 W. Fourth St., Fort Worth. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays; 4 and 8:30 p.m. Saturdays. Show runs two hours, 25 minutes with one intermission. Tickets are $15- $20; call (817) 877-3040.

Mark Lowry, (817) 390-7747

Send comments to markl@star-telegram.com