STAGE CRAFT: The farce be with you

Barter’s new play, The Cure for Love, is a farce.  Depending on the source of the definition, the word farce means different things, but for the purpose of this review, farce means a comedy with an improbable plot, exaggerated characters, and sexual innuendo.  (Signs at the box office say it contains “risqué humor.”)
The setting is near Paris in 1835, where the Baroness de Barthele is trying to find a cure for her lovesick son.  (The Baroness is played by Evalyn Baron, a coincidental play on words?) The son, although having a lovely young wife, imagines himself in love with - and abandoned by - the notorious courtesan Fernande, who rejected his advances upon finding out that he is married.  (Also coincidental – or not?– Maurice and Clotilde de Barthele are played by real-life husband and wife, Sean and Ashley Campos.)
Fitting the definition of exaggerated character is Wendy Piper in the role of Madame du Neuille, the ever-present busybody who intrudes herself into the household.  The Count of Montigirous is played by Eugene Wolf, a long-time Barter favorite, and Fabien de Rieulle is portrayed by Ryan Henderson, a Barter Player.
To cure Maurice of his infatuation with Fernande Amy Baldwin) , the Baroness sends for her friend the Count and Fernande herself, who, amazingly, is put into the position of fixing the situation.  Does it work?  Is there a cure for love?
Nicolas Piper, Barter’s Director of Production, is also the director of this comedy.  In his notes in the play bill, he implies that we all do crazy things for love. I would imagine that directing his wife, Wendy Piper, would make for a crazy situation, but I realize that it is done frequently in the theatre world.
Based on an Alexander Dumas novella Fernande, The Cure for Love runs on the main stage at Barter through August 10th.
An adjunct English instructor at Wytheville Community College, Priscilla Hall is a long-time fan of Abingdon’s Barter Theatre and has seen most of the shows for the past 18-19 years.