Fast-moving N.B. farce keeps actors on their feet and audiences laughing

The cast of Lend Me a Tenor rehearse a scene. (Source: Anthony Allen)

Chris Humphries and Sandra Bell have been getting a good workout for the last few weeks. At their rehearsals they dart across the stage, getting the exact timing down for all of their movements, even details as minute as opening and closing doors.

“The timing of opening and closing doors is almost a character in itself,” Humphries said.

“You need to get it down when people are coming and going,” Bell said. “You can see the comedy on its feet.”

Humphries and Bell are starring in “Lend Me a Tenor,” a high-energy farce about an opera company that tries to salvage a show after its star guest tenor passes out from too many sleeping pills. The Saint John Theatre Company is producing the show, which goes on stage later this month.

“I always love comedies and particularly a farce,” said director Bob Doherty. “I saw the sequel to it a few years ago in Portland, Maine, and it was a great laugh. I thought Saint John audiences would love something like this.”

Bell and Humphries say the key to the show is timing since it lets the comedy hit hard. Despite their constant rehearsals, they’re both still finding moments of new humour in the show.

“It’s very much in the vein of classic farces,” Humphries said. “The show itself feels like an extended episode of Three’s Company.”

“I’m howling with laughter watching them rehearse,” Bell said. “Every time they tweak it and it becomes a little tighter.”

Doherty said the show is an ensemble piece that relies on the actors to have solid chemistry.

“There are four men and four women, and they really have to work together,” he said. “We laugh at the same jokes over and over again.”

Humphries, who first read the play during the COVID-19 pandemic, said live theatre – even wild farces – can provide moments of relatability and connection for audiences.

“I think everybody has their own moment of, ‘Why me, Lord?’” he said. “You really see the humanity in a character who is an elevated opera star. It’s fun to see the high brow world crash with the everyday man.”

For Doherty, the show offers a refuge for people who are looking to leave their worries at the door for a few hours.

“I’m hoping people will find it a great relief,” he said. “Right now I think people need a break from the real world. It’s a great escape.”

“Lend Me a Tenor” runs from March 19 to 22 at the Imperial Theatre. Regular tickets are $50, $45 for seniors and $25 for students.

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