Introducing your new romantic partner to your parents can be stressful and has been the topic of numerous plays and movies. James Sherman’s “Beau Jest” (not to be confused with “Beau Geste,” the movie or the 1924 novel about a noble gesture resulting and the foreign legion) is a predictable, situation comedy given a charming and lively production at the Sierra Madre Playhouse.
Sarah (Meg Wolf) is a lovely kindergarten teacher with a boyfriend problem: Her current beau, Chris (John Lysaght), isn’t Jewish. She is and her parents (Rosina Pinchot and Howard Krupnick) expect her to marry a nice Jewish boy, hopefully a doctor. She’s told her parents that she’s dropped Chris in favor of Dave, a Jewish surgeon. The problem is: Dave doesn’t exist. She hires Bob (Travis Nefores), an escort and actor, to play the part. Yet he also isn’t Jewish.
Says Sarah in a panic, “You’ve heard of gaydar? They have Jew-dar.”
Bob as Dave passes the parental Jewdar and not only charms his way into the family, but also into Sarah’s heart. Sarah’s divorced brother, Joel (Jonas Gabriel) is more skeptical.
Wolf’s Sarah is sweet in a messy frenetic way, and she’s a marshmallow, too soft to hold true to her own feelings and convictions. Lysaght strikes the right note as a defensive boyfriend, put off by the imposter and his own desire to be the official boyfriend. Nefores as Bob has a calmness that strikes one as being natural kindergarten teacher material and a good counterpoint to Wolf’s nervous Sarah. Pinochot and Krupnick are believable as a couple who have replaced small talk with bickering and complaining.
Under Stan Kelly’s direction, we feel that all the characters love Sarah and that Sarah, in her own way, loves everyone. This fun, little trifle is family friendly was a delightful surprise. It’s a shame this little gem of a production didn’t get more publicity. My apologies.
