Review: INTO THE BREECHES! at MainStage Irving- Las Colinas is clever and inventive

Promo Photo by Mike Morgan

Into the Breeches!

Written by George Brant
Directed by Lisa Devine
Produced by MainStage Irving-Las Colinas

Audience Rating: PG
Accessible Seating: Available
Hearing Devices: Not Available
ASL Performances: N/A
Sensory Friendly Performances: Yes
Production Sound Level: Comfortable
Noises or Visuals to Prepare for: None of note
Running Time: 2 hours with a 15 minute intermission

Reviewed by Glyda Welch

The best theatrical experiences are those that entertain audiences and then linger with them beyond the final curtain. That’s the kind of experience MainStage Irving delivers with INTO THE BREECHES! George Brant’s play takes us into the Oberon Play House during World War II where the season has been cancelled due to the deployment of the company’s male actors.  Maggie Dalton (Kim Harris,) wife of the company’s director manipulates board president Ellsworth Snow (Stan Graner) into reopening the season for an all-female production of Shakespeare’s Henriad (Henry IV & Henry V).

Harris’ Maggie begins as a substitute for her deployed husband, carefully following his plans and advice but develops into a tour-de-force as she begins to trust her instincts and put her own spin on the production. Mary-Margaret Pyeatt chews up the scenery as longtime company actress Celeste Fielding, who is clinging to the ingénue roles. Graner gets to share his comic talents as he takes Ellsworth Snow from bluster to bolster. Darise Error as his wife Winifred Snow definitely does a lot more than round out the cast. Her Winifred is sweet, compassionate, and incredibly funny. Don’t look away from her when the ladies receive some rehearsal costume pieces to assist in their character development.

Grace Richards (Natalie Hinds) always wanted to act but didn’t have her husband’s permission. With him flying missions overseas, she auditions and joins the cast. Hinds’ brings strength to the conflicted young wife and mother. Lexa Childress is a bubbly burst of enthusiasm as newlywed June Bennett who arrives at auditions on her bike and works as hard on home front war drives as she does on her roles in the play.

Ida Green (Anell Rey) is the company costume designer who has been kept backstage by virtue of her race. Rey unleashes Green’s pain and funnels it into progress. Stuart Lasker (Matthew Good) the company stage manager has similarly been kept backstage, for reasons that are revealed. 

There are many plays that take the audience inside the world of theater. Brant has written a clever script that not only goes backstage at the theater but transports us to the US home front during
World War II. MainStage Irving has collected artifacts from the City of Irving for display in the lobby. Patrons who arrive a few minutes early have a chance to view photos, newspaper clippings, and correspondence from World War II. 

Crew contributing to the success of the production include: Darby Blakeman, Stage Manager; Joseph Cummings, Scenic Designer/Set Dresser; Ellie Wyatt, Master Carpenter; Costume Designer, Michael A. Robinson/Dallas Costume Shoppe; Lighting Designer, Lisa Miller; Caitlin Ferguson, Props Designer; Tully Hall, Sound Designer; and David Saldivar, Fight Choreographer. Mary Bongfeldt served as Administrative Producer, with Jake Blakeman as Tech Producer.

INTO THE BREECHES! Continues through March 22nd at the Dupree Theater in the Irving Arts Center. Tickets are available online at: www.mainstageirving.com or through the box office at 972.252.2787

Experience Live Theater!

Glynda Welch

Production photos by Kris Ikejiri