Sunday, December 09, 2012

Play review – “Watch the Birdie” (1961) by Norman Krasna

One of Krasna’s lesser known farces although it features several elements of his big hits: the protagonist is a bright young girl trying to make it in the big city who gets up to some racy adventures and falls in love with a nice young man. The gimmick here is quite sexy – she’s a secretary for a lawyer who realizes she can make decent coin being the other women in divorce suit photos.

That’s not a bad idea but Krasna doesn’t really develop it – I kept waiting to for a husband to be a really major character or a wife involved in the suit, but the major complication comes from some guy who is in love with her who turns out to work for the IRS and the girl's income isn't declared. There's an unexpectedly heavy subplot about the lady who originally did the job who is smacked around by her husband.

It's alright, with some okay lines, I liked the complication of a security check being done on the girl, and the professional photographers, but is fairly minor farce.

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