‘Dinner for One’ – Written by Christina Baldwin, Sun Mee Chomet, and Jim Lichtscheidl. Weylin Symes (Director); Katy Monthei (Scenic Designer); Jeff Adelberg (Lighting Designer); Deirdre Gerrard (Costume Designer); David Remedios (Sound Design); Tim Goss (Music Director). Presented by Greater Boston Stage Company through November 17, 2024.
The Greater Boston Stage Company has opened its 2024-2025 season with a new look, renovating its historic theater (originally built in 1917) including new seats, re-configuring its seating area to create a more intimate feel, and eliminating the poorly conceived all-gender restrooms (much to the relief of its older patrons, one imagines). But it’s the addition of comic powerhouse Paul Melendy to the company’s stable of talent that has given the theater its biggest boost in recent years. While that assessment may be a bit hyperbolic, there’s no underestimating the impact his performances have had on the company since Boston theater emerged from the pandemic in 2021. Since then, he’s appeared in a half-dozen (mostly comic) productions at GBSC, including the brilliant one-man show “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” which earned him the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Solo Performance in 2022.
In the season-opening Dinner for One, Melendy is paired with Boston theater Grande Dame Debra Wise (multiple IRNE and Norton nominations) in this wildly funny two-hander. The play is an extended version of a 1963 18-minute black-and-white short film originally performed onstage by British actor Lauri Wylie in 1934, but is now a New Year’s Day television staple in Germany and other European nations.
The play begins wordlessly and slowly (almost too slowly) as we meet James (Melendy), the faithful butler to Miss Sophie, as he prepares for her entrance. The home is well-appointed but a little dreary, with the furniture draped in sheets and barely perceptible pictures in the frames on the wall. It’s Miss Sophie’s birthday and also New Year’s Day, and she appears, clad in black evening wear at the top of her elegant staircase. But when he engages her, she silently dismisses him, apparently in no mood to celebrate. There’s a tinge of sadness to the scene (save for some subtle comedic antics by Melendy), and it’s repeated multiple times, with Miss Sophie thawing a little more with each subsequent scene, setting the stage for the hilarity to come – 20 years later.
When the actors finally begin speaking, it’s her 90th birthday, and she’s ready to rock, making her entrance in a gold ballroom gown. The party guests have all been assembled at the dinner table: Sir Toby, Admiral von Schneider, Mr. Pomeroy, and Mr. Winterbottom, but since all are long deceased, the fiercely loyal James must impersonate each of them to honor and entertain Miss Sophie (and the audience) – and Melendy rises spectacularly to the task. As he serves the four course meal of mulligatawny soup (with sherry,) North Sea haddock (with white wine), chicken (with champagne), and fruit (with port) he also consumes the liquor in the persona of each guest, offering a toast or comment to the guest of honor. He becomes increasingly hammered with each gulp and the laughter ratchets up as the booze goes down. Melendy is brilliant at physical comedy – juggling plates, repeatedly tripping over the same bump in the rug, and even executing an acrobatic pratfall where he ends up sitting on a settee as if it were his intention – but he is equally adept with his over-the-top characterizations of the Admiral, poet, and businessman. His best work comes with the Mr. Pomeroy character, a clumsy, zero-self-esteem nebbish that’s a cross between Stanley Myron Handelman and a young Jerry Lewis. The comedy is also driven by audience participation, where patrons submit answers to questions like “name a place you would like to visit” a la an improv show, which allows Melendy and Wise to riff, and the results are (mostly) terrific. They also seem bent on cracking each other up, much like the cast of “The Carol Burnett Show,” (Google it, kids) breaking character in the process, all with hilarious results.
Despite the hilarity, there’s a real sweetness to this 70 minute play, and there’s a genuine affection between Wise and Melendy. The set by Katy Monthei and the costumes by Deirdre Gerrard are also exquisite. In light of recent world and domestic events, we could all use a little laughter, and Dinner for One serves up a delightful comic meal. For tickets and information, go to: https://www.greaterbostonstage.org/
