Douglas Carter Beane's very successful and hugely entertaining new comedy is something of a con job, taking as much pleasure in pulling the wool (or "cashmere" as Alexa Vere de Vere would more elegantly phrase it) over the audience's eyes as it does in the elaborate deceptions practiced by that magnificent con woman, Alexa herself, upon her fellow characters in this drama. The unwary (who can preserve their innocence by skipping this review) may, at times, in the course of watching the play, come close to believing that something more serious is afoot than, as it proves to be, merely a glorious satirical romp at the expense of what Milton called "that last infirmity of noble mind"—an artist's ambition for fame. As Bees in Honey Drown (a title itself so luscious as to almost seem a great poetic quotation) is one of those amusing theatrical contraptions that leads delighted audiences through cleverly contrived labyrinths of turns and twists to an artfully concealed conclusion.
And at the center of this maze lurks a remarkable creation—a sort of psychological Frankenstein's monster. "You are not the person you were born?" asks Alexa. "Who wonderful is?" Alexa certainly isn't. As Frankenstein was cobbled from leftover human fragments, as Quixote was hatched from a brain pickled in chivalric romances, so Alexa was reborn from sedulous study of flamboyant, affected film females. Take a generous dollop of Auntie Mame's epicurean indulgence, a heaping measure of Sally Bowles' divine decadence, a soupçon of Holly Golightly's waifish sophistication, and a dash of Tallulah Bankhead's husky impudent languor to cook up a creature fashioned to charm aesthetic aspirants out of their cash.
Karole Foreman absolutely inhabits the illusive, allusive role of Alexa in a bewitching, kaleidoscopic performance that is the jewel in the crown of this lithely articulated production's tight and dazzling ensemble. Andy Fullerton appealingly plays her principle victim, fledgling author Evan Wyler—a wide-eyed Candide ready to be plucked by the avaricious world that Alexa personifies. And a host of other sharply drawn characters are all teemingly played by just Rick Stevens, Greg Tankersley, Laura Bozanich, and Jessa Watson, who seem fully three times as many as they are. This most cleverly written play contains scintillating, overlapping passages as complex and tricky to perform as any in Caryl Churchill's Top Girls, and director Patrick McBride navigates his splendid cast through them with clarity, pace, and verve. Marty Burnett's set design brilliantly and with swift flexibility amplifies the show's sophisticated glitter. Paul Peterson did the sound; Karin Filijan performs some nifty shadow play with her lighting design, and Shelly Williams designed the sleek and suitable costumes.
"As Bees in Honey Drown," presented by and at North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987 D Lomas Santa Fe Dr., Solana Beach. Thurs.-Sat. 8 p.m. Sun. 2 & 7 p.m. May 12-June 10. $20-22. (858) 481-1055 or (888) 776-6278.