I'll say this for Cash on Delivery, as presented by Hat Trick Theater: It's funny.
Hey, don't take that lightly: Hat Trick's production of Michael Cooney's British farce about a man trying to scam the welfare system made me laugh. As with real life, it's easier to make someone cry than it is to laugh, and so I salute Hat Trick for a job well done on that front.
Cash on Delivery
$24. Thurs.-Sat., 7:30 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. Through Mar. 13. Murray Studio at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 N McMullen-Booth Rd., Clearwater. rutheckerdhall.com.
However, the production is not a smooth sail along the Sea of Laughter; it pulls once or twice into the Port of Overacting (easy enough to do with a farce but it detracts nonetheless) and languishes for a spell in the Gulf of Gimmicks (much as I did with this very sentence.)
First, the wonderful things: As I mentioned, you will laugh. It's a funny show and a timeless (albeit fluffy) topic. (Side note: I now believe the UK's welfare system has much better benefits than ours.) Stephen Fisher turns in a solidly adorable performance as Norman McDonald, the unwitting and then unwilling accomplice in his landlord's schemes. Nathan Jokela holds the show together as Eric Swan, the almost-not-lovable schemer. Assisted by John Gustafson's portrayal of Uncle George, they give the show the sort of cohesiveness needed to make a farce work onstage. The three men kept their energy — and the energy of the audience — high, which is often harder for companies to do with traditionally more sedate Sunday afternoon houses (which is when I saw the show).
Larry Bukovey plays the welfare investigator, Mr. Jenkins, and perfects his persona: stoic, boring target of the shenanigans that ensue as the household he's investigating tries to fool him. The minor players — Erica Garraffa (Ms. Cowper), Nick Hoop (Mr. Forbright), David Barrow (Dr. Chapman), Julia Teal (Brenda Dixon) — all do a fine job going through their predictable paces. Predictability in a farce isn't always a bad thing, though, and while we'll never know how more depth could have helped the show, I doubt their static characterizations hurt this show, which, while delightful, doesn't exactly rival Sam Shepard.
Unfortunately, Molly Schoolmeester (as Eric's shrewish wife) and Jennifer Fuller (as whiny crisis intervention counselor Sally Chessington) hit one note and stay there. But these two missteps don't markedly detract from the excellent pace and humor Winskye otherwise delivers.
The bottom line? This show is funny. Think Three's Company funny? If that's your thing, go see it. You won't regret it.
This article appears in Mar 3-9, 2016.