P's and Q's

Lee Ann Etzold P’s and Q’s - Ms. Manners Tells It Like It Is!

P’s and Q’s at The Ethical Society 1901 Rittenhouse  Sq.

www.livearts-fringe.org 215-413-1318

Manners were drilled into me by my mother and have seen me through some difficult and abstruse social interactions. A much darker/funnier appreciation of manners is explored in Lee Ann Etzold’s and MyKindaPony’s production of “P’s and Q’s,” running at the Ethical Society as part of the Live Arts Festival, September 5-16. Working with seven actor/dancers, (Bethany Formica, Lorin Lyle, Aaron Mumaw, Sarah Sanford, Amanda Schoonover, Dito van Reigersberg, and Gwendolyn Rooker), Lee Ann Etzold choreographs a sixty minute demo-tour of the “do’s,” “don’ts,” and general inanities of dinner party etiquette. And a hilarious tour it is. Taking several of the rules to their logical ends, we have two men flinging each other around the room dealing with social kissing. The problems presented by left-handed dinner guest may be solved by putting him in a corner –not just the table, but in the corner of the room, face in like a punished child. As Gia, the maid, reassures us, “Most problems can be solved.” As I said, hilarious, but somewhat cruel.

 

What is, at first, an amusing satire of etiquette, with its hierarchical approach to introductions, table arrangements, and seating charts, soon becomes much darker. After consuming the addictively soothing soup course and several glasses of wine, the hostess winds up underneath the table, tongue-lashed and patronized by her female guests as a drunken failure. The joke turns into an exposé of classism, sexism, elitism, the male power structure and authority. “P’s and Q’s” demonstrates the hidden language and power struggle that etiquette represents and enforces. To paraphrase the unseen narrator – a disembodied male voice – you can either do it right, or not.

The actors are all talented clowns and mimes who lead the audience laughingly through the rules of the “Dinner Party.” It’s great fun until the dark side is revealed. But Etzold keeps a tight rein on the moment (as she does throughout the play) and the talented actors lead us to an amusing denouement.

Get tickets while you can “P’s and Q’s” is soon to be a sell out.

 

P’s and Q’s at The Ethical Society 1901 Rittenhouse  Sq.

www.livearts-fringe.org 215-413-1318