Alarms and Excursions

by David Anthony Fox

Michael Frayn's Alarms and Excursions is, in fact, eight miniature plays. They differ in length (from several minutes to more than half an hour) and topic (from the idiocies of flight safety demonstrations to an affluent but nightmarish dinner party, interrupted by all manner of gadgets).

What they share is two central themes: a) a vaguely Luddite suspicion of things technological (cell phones, car alarms, beepers) that disrupt the gracious and genteel process of living, and b) critical commentary on various ways in which miscommunication plagues our contemporary world. Frayn sees the two as related, though it's not entirely clear from Alarms just how this association works.

Frayn's previous plays show that he can be a farce-smith of nearly unparalleled skill (Noises Off), as well as nuanced intellect (Copenhagen). Alarms, an amiable but ultimately toothless comedy, isn't in the same league.

There is one gem: Glassnost (sic), a playlet in the second act. Here, a Margaret Thatcher-ish politician is exposed, Emperor's New Clothes-like, by her rebellious teleprompter operator. This piece has wit as well as depth and here it is splendidly delivered by Nancy Boykin.

As for the others, a couple of the second-act segments bring some amusement, but even the shortest of them is hyperextended. The weakest pieces are, in fact, the two longest (together they comprise the first act): Alarms, the abovementioned dinner party sketch, and Doubles, a scene in which two different couples are placed in identical parallel hotel rooms. In both, the same fairly obvious points are made again and again, and the material quickly weakens to middling sitcom level.

On a brighter note, Act II has given Alarms a production of some polish. Dan Kern's direction and Nick Embree's scenery are sleek and clever, and the four-member ensemble cast -- Boykin especially, but also Gregg Almquist, Lily Mercer and Peter Pryor -- have considerable charm. By strictest standards, we would like to see more razor-sharp comic timing in the physical business, and a wider range of accents: Part of Frayn's not-terribly-original concept has to do with the inevitable class system. In fact, I would have thought the very Englishness of Alarms (with its regular references to specific British towns and icons) would make it an unlikely candidate for importation. That certainly didn't trouble the opening night audience at Act II, who were audibly amused throughout.

ALARMS AND EXCURSIONS Through Oct. 12, Act II Playhouse, 56 East Butler Ave., Ambler, 215-654-0200

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