Jane Pfitsch and Christopher Innvar

Julianne Boyd, directing the BSC version, does a splendid job, assisted by David M. Barber's spot-on set design, of bringing all to the Criminal Courts Press Room on August 31, 1939 in Chicago. The large wooden roll top desk plays a pivotal role as the plot evolves. Otherwise, furnishings are period-perfect: chairs, hanging lights, a ceiling fan, typewriter and so forth.

Walter Burns (Christopher Innvar) is a hotshot editor/journalist and leaps into ready-to-investigate mode as a man who is condemned to die, flees jail. This happens to occur just when Adolph Hitler is about to invade Poland. The Great Depression maintains its hold on America. The convict, Earl Holub (Ethan Dubin) is Jewish and he has just gunned down a policeman who evidently was pro-Nazi. Burns was formerly married to Hildy Johnson (Jane Pfitsch) who had enough of her profession (newspaper woman) and husband, too. Hilda thought she was about to begin life anew in Albany, New York in another marriage, this time to Bruce Baldwin (Mark H. Dold). He is an insurance man and perhaps Hildy hopes she is choosing security rather than previous frenzy. Burns, before she gets out of town, sets Hildy, a deft writer, on the case — through Guare's scripted revelations.

The action of this play commences with a group of seasoned reporters sitting around, playing cards, smoking cigarettes, and trading stories in the Press Room. His Girl Friday is a complicated piece which centers upon Burns's effort, through Hildy, to get the scoop on the escapee. The first portion of the production is, by necessity, expository. Burns is bright, managerial, and definitely still in love with Hildy. When Jane Pfitsch, playing the reporter who thinks she is simply saying goodbye for a final time but finds herself catapulted into action, appears, this show: amplifies, escalates, and zips into another gear. Vivacious and singularly expressive, she brings spice and energy to the stage.

Actor Rocco Sisto (a regular at Lenox-based Shakespeare & Company for years and a known stage and screen performer) enters relatively early as loud Sheriff Percival B. Hartman. SIsto's larger than life presence, flair, and charmingly audacious rendering further ignites the production. Anya Whelan Smith makes her BSC debut as Mollie Malloy, who became friends with Holub, but as one whose profession (woman on the streets) is viewed with great negativity. Actor Gordon Stanley is quietly distinctive as Kruger, a man with a harmonica trying to find and play the middle portion (bridge) of "Over the Rainbow." His Girl Friday takes on an entirely different tone shortly after intermission. Just before the first act closes, Earl Holub, having made his prison break, smashes through one of the long windows of the room!

The beginning of the second act finds Earl realizing that there is a $10,000 reward for his apprehension. He explains that he thought the cop with a gun was about to shoot him and that he was defending himself. He explains that "I'm an anarchist. Anarchy has got nothing to do with bombs. Anarchy is the only philosophy that guarantees every man freedom." He adds, a few minutes later, "I miss my cell. They gave me food. I had a bed. More than I had outside. I wish they'd take me back and hang me. I done my best." For this viewer, the opening portion of Act II rings true with clarity and meaning.

His Girl Friday is very much a full, rich evening of theater. Twenty actors (most of whom are exemplary) take on twenty-something roles. Innvar and Dold are familiar to Barrington Stage theater patrons and each is a highly adept and disciplined actor. Talented, versatile Jane Pfitsch appears on this Pittsfield, Massachusetts stage for the first time and she is something special.

The design team was challenged to bring to visually bring to life the Press Room interior. This is handsomely accomplished and Sara Jean Tosetti's wardrobe choices enhance. His Girl Friday is a physical play and Ryan Winkles, Fight Choreographer, contributes as well.

Julianne Boyd most effectively brings together quality people and impressive production elements. She, working with John Guare's well-crafted script, pulls it all together. Most moments are winning. The first twenty minutes or so serve to inform. Thereafter, the production, catapulted by Hildy's entrance, gains a momentum it does not relinquish. Boyd (Artistic Director) made a bold and ultimately wise decision to bring this play to BSC.

His Girl Friday continues on the Mainstage at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Massachusetts through August 30th. For tickets, call (413) 236-8888 or visit barringtonstageco.org.

Photo: Kevin Sprague

- Fred Sokol