NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE — Let’s face it. With the current U.S. tariff war, ongoing global conflicts and a looming recession, we could all use a good laugh. Alas, director Eda Holmes’ revival of “Tons of Money” at the Shaw Festival isn’t quite the comic windfall it could be.
That’s too bad, because all the ingredients for two hours of silly escapism are mostly there in Will Evans and Valentine’s (the pen name of Archibald Thomas Pechey) 1920s British farce.
Inventor Aubrey Allington (Mike Nadajewski) and his clever wife Louise (Julia Course) are living comfortably enough in what seems like flapper era London. They sleep in late, wear fancy dressing gowns (costume designer Judith Bowden’s outfits are eye-poppingly effective) and leisurely read their mail — mostly overdue bills — while sipping tea served by their proper butler, Sprules (Graeme Somerville), and maid, Simpson (Marla McLean).
When a lawyer named Chesterman (Qasim Khan) informs Aubrey that he’s inherited nearly half a million dollars (this is a century ago, so do the math), his financial mess seems to be cleaned up.
The problem: Aubrey is currently in debt for roughly the same amount. How can he pocket the moolah without paying back his pesky creditors?
Together, the couple concoct a ridiculous scheme. Aubrey, who’s been working on inventing a new kind of blasting powder, will fake his own death via an explosion. Thereafter, he will assume the identity of his cousin, one George Maitland, who would stand to inherit the money. George was living in Mexico, but hasn’t been seen in years.
Before you can mouth Peter Bogdanovich’s famous line, “Drama is easy, comedy’s hard,” other characters — including Sprules and Simpson — are hatching self-serving schemes. Even the couple’s house guest, Jean Everard (Cosette Derome, filling in for Lindsay Wu at the performance I saw), has a connection to the cash.
The only people not tied to the inheritance are the couple’s simple gardener Giles (Ron Kennell) and their hard-of-hearing family relation Miss Benita Mullett (Nehassaiu deGannes), who each have comic quirks all their own.
I won’t spoil any of the play’s machinations, particularly in the more manic second act. But I will point out that André Morin and Sepehr Reybod show up in this second half and, clad in similar outfits, enact a physical routine that is a pure delight to witness. On Bowden’s elegant drawing room set, doors open, characters hide, and identities are mistaken again and again. Highly amusing stuff.
It might seem churlish to criticize a 100-year-old play for minor plot holes. But there’s no proper payoff to Sprules and Simpson’s schemes. And a spat between Giles and an unseen cook that is hinted at early on doesn’t deliver any dramatic dividends apart from a fun bit of early business involving eggs. Also, since Aubrey is a failed inventor, couldn’t one of his ideas turn out to play a key role in the finale?
Had the writers or director Holmes done something to fix these loose plot threads, the show might elicit bigger laughs.
Oddly enough, “Tons of Money” works best in its peripheral moments. The way Nadajewski launches himself onto a sofa, for instance, tells you everything you need to know about this genial, pampered man. Nadajewski and Course, aided by movement collaborator Matt Alfano, find many ways to physically suggest their intimate connection.
And during the play’s transition scenes, underscored by Andy Ballantyne’s lively jazz music, Somerville and McLean evoke the passions they’re prevented from showing in their characters’ day-to-day lives.
As usual, the Shaw ensemble doesn’t disappoint. Nadajewski is a nimble and endlessly likeable clown who gets to hide beneath various accents and costumes, including a stripped-down look that helps end the first act. Khan plays the stock character of the straight-man solicitor with skill, gamely accepting all the jokes — and bodily fluids — aimed at him and his profession. Reybod, likewise, plays his character with a seriousness that makes his actions all the funnier.
But although he doesn’t appear until the second act, it’s Morin who seems to be enjoying himself the most onstage. His character lacks any sort of backstory, yet Morin, with his malleable mug and impeccable timing, is such a terrific actor that he makes you forget about all that.
If only he and his character had a bit more stage time, “Tons of Money” could have cashed in more on its comic potential.
