A Dish Of Nothing Closes Stamford Theatre Work’s Season

By June April

STAMFORD — Of all the theaters this reviewer visits on a regular basis, STW is usually one of the most enjoyable. However, the final production of the year, An Empty Plate in the Cafe du Grand Boeuf, did not bring the usual gratification that has come to be part of the STW experience.

Mind you, the friends we went with loved it. But it was just too stylized, too schtickie, for the kind of humor this reviewer relishes. Overall it was not an unpleasant afternoon — some parts were amusing, and the ending did have an unexpected twist. However, that special compilation when everything, from script to acting and lighting and sets all coalesce… well, it was a bit lacking.

An Empty Plate in the Cafe du Grand Boeuf was written by Michael Hollinger, who teaches playwriting at Villa Nova, University of Pennsylvania, Arden Theatre Company and The Wilma Theatre. This gentleman has also scripted several PBS short films, and won several fellowships and awards. Hopefully Empty Plate… does not count this as one of his best plays.

Plate… is one of those productions that appeal only to a certain type of comic audience. You’ve seen it before: basic slapstick, walking into walls, doors, etc. It could be visualized as freeze-frame-humor in that the actors pause (in several instances) for the audience to catch the funny line. But that tactic was repeated just a tad too often.

Also, the stuttering by one of the waiters was both inconsistent and not the usual “stuttered” sounds one hears. According to director Doug Moser, it was scripted precisely that way, so the accusing finger again points to the playwright on this one.

Of all the characters, the chef, Gaston by name, was the most entertaining. The actor Branislav Tomich bears a striking resemblance to the real life chef and owner of the Emerald City Cafe in Bethel, one Warren Hardman.

The talented Deirdre Madigan has a small role. It is at the end of the play, but this is a clear case of quality not quantity.

The story is about a very wealthy man. It is a spoof of the macho writer and adventurer Ernest Hemingway. The protagonist of Empty Plate in the Cafe du Grand Boeuf owns a restaurant that is open solely for him 24 hours a day, 365 days a year for whenever he should just happen to drop in. Needless to say, there is a lot of groveling. The staff of four is there to create gastronomic wonders and do his every bidding.

The maître d’ and his wife, played by Robert Boardman and Kimberly Ross, snipe at one another throughout the play. It gets petty and tiresome, quickly.

Known initially only as Monsieur, the actor Paul Falzone makes his entrance looking and sounding something like the character Guy Noir from Garrison Keillor’s radio show Prairie Home Companion. Mr Falzone seems to have been typecast; he personifies large and blustery. One senses there is a fine Shakespearean actor under that gruff, cigar-puffing exterior.

Playing a rather bewildered, stuttering new waiter, Patrick Darragh calls forth an empathetic connection with the audience. The role of Antoine is a sharp contrast to the rest of the highly energetic and neurotic characters in the play.

Warren Karp’s set was wonderful. The trophy heads mounted on  the wall were truly artistic and creative and the whole sense of the restaurant interior was totally credible and quite delightful to see.

Playing through May 6, An Empty Plate in the Cafe du Grand Boeuf at least offers some food for thought and conversation. Which is what theatre is about, isn’t it?

(Call 203-359-4414 for performance details and last-minute reservations.)