Review: A Bedfull of Foreigners

Things just sound better with an accent.

I left the theater the other night feigning a German accent on the way home with my equally faux-German-accented husband.

If you were at the debut of a “Bedfull of Foreigners” at Carrollwood Playhouse, you’d probably understand. If not, well, you really need to see the play.

The bedroom farce, slow at first in order to introduce the characters, continued to build momentum.

Two British couples get inadvertently booked into the same room - the only available room in any hotel due to a festival. Compromising positions ensue due to a series of comedic misunderstandings.  

Under the skilled direction of Michael Holden, the ensemble cast of seven led the audience down a topsy-turvy Monty-Python-reminiscent road of who’s on first, what’s on second. A series of blunders, mistaken identities, and misunderstandings lathered with sexual innuendo set the tone for a very chaotic vacation for the two couples seeking refuge in a hotel run by Heinz, a slightly-crazed lothario manager, Karak, his befuddled, booze-infused porter.  

The comedic farce with bed-hopping, a burlesque show, window-falling and a bare-bum nun, a couple of monks, an airborne radiator and dropped trousers combined superior comedic timing and physical comedy.  Even before I knew they were all close friends (“since dirt” described one of the cast members), it was easy to sense the strong chemistry among the cast.

Before the show, Holden promised that “the script was well-written, with a wonderfully talented cast," and that it was an evening "well spent that you won’t regret coming to see.”

Talking to the cast after the play, they offered their favorite lines and scenes, and said they practiced their accents by “watching a lot of BBC” and Miguel E. Rodriguez who masterfully played Karak added in character: “and Hunt for Red October.” 

The Casanova manager played by Kurt Wagner was the unanimous cast favorite role. Think “ve have vays of making you talk” and Shultz from Hogan’s Heroes, and you’re pretty close to Heinz.

The cast could safely be described as a “depraved kindergarten class” and the best of friends.

Though the audience was small on opening night, the laughs were large. 

Simply put, in a “A Bedfull of Foreigners,” the actors had a ball. So did I, and I'm sure you will, too.

“A Bedfull of Foreigners” is playing through July 23. Tickets are $16, and $14 for seniors, students and military members with an I.D.  For more information, visit www.carrollwoodplayers.org.