The ‘Underpants’ to Drop at Guild Hall

The idea of German Expressionist comedy seems rather oxymoronic, but in the hands of Steve Martin it becomes zany social commentary. In his play “The Underpants,” a young bourgeois couple copes with infamy and flirts with infidelity, learning something about each other in the process.

At a recent rehearsal of the play, a fast-paced rollercoaster of a romp that will be mounted at Guild Hall starting next Thursday, the cast seemed both familiar with and questioning of the text and staging. Having worked through one round of rehearsals and performances in Syracuse for a few weeks last fall, they did not appear to have tired of it in the least. Knowing their characters intimately, they are still finding new ways to interpret them, and making it all seem fresh.

“We closed in Syracuse thinking we were done. There was no plan for a revival,” said Bill Fennelly, the director of both productions, who returns here with the full cast and design team.

Tuck Milligan, one of the actors, was instrumental in bringing the play to East Hampton. Mr. Milligan, a regular on Guild Hall’s stage who was seen in its recent production of “The Night Alive,” suggested to Josh Gladstone, the theater’s artistic director, that he consider putting on “The Underpants.”

“Tuck worked his magic,” Mr. Fennelly said. “These things never happen.”

The opportunity to be back on stage together was exciting for all involved. The actors, who had veered somewhat from Mr. Fennelly’s original direction following his departure after the opening weekend in Syracuse, all agreed that they needed to delve deeper into their roles and start anew.

“All the things we thought about changing when we were doing the performance, this gave us a way to look at that,” said Mark David Watson, who plays Theo Maske, the husband. Even better, he said, was that Mr. Fennelly told them he was not interested in mounting an identical production.

While some directors might approach the play as a cynical take on adultery, Mr. Fennelly said he preferred to see it as “a young marriage that is out of whack. . . . I feel Steve Martin has tremendous heart, and the play really shows a transformation and metamorphosis.”

Louise, the young wife whose underpants (or bloomers, given the setting) fall during a parade, is the central character, played by Marianna McClellan. She might not have the most lines, but she’s on stage the most, typically reacting to something happening even when not speaking. One of the most challenging things about her role, she said during a rehearsal break, was building that stamina again — and remembering to breathe.

After a few weeks’ performances in Syracuse, there were things “that never felt quite right, but we made it work,” she said. “There were other things the audience didn’t respond to in the way you imagined they would.” She sees this as a chance to fix those things.

Mr. Fennelly said that 75 percent of the staging would remain the same, “but there are moments that we’re breaking open. There’s a logical evolution in the characters and relationships we’ve been building for so long.”

For Mr. Watson, having performed the play before an audience already meant that he “didn’t have to start at such a high pitch. I didn’t haveto push the jokes as much. The audience will follow.” He’s enjoying the chance to reexamine the material, finding that a deeper read of the characters helps feed the laughs, which often come from the couple’s misunderstandings of each other.

The cast, which also includes Michael Brian Dunn, Daniel Passer, and Sabrina Profitt, had a lot of questions about blocking — where to move and stand on stage. Even with scenes they knew had worked, they kept experimenting to see if new approaches were even better.

“This time around, we’re going for it more, we’re less tentative,” Ms. McClellan said. “We have the confidence and know that we have some version that works, but then we are taking it to the next level. It’s fun to see these characters in the extreme.”

One significant change is the addition of an intermission. “I initially thought it was important not to take a break, because Louise’s evolution is a very fast rollercoaster of 72 hours, and it’s useful to see it unbroken,” Mr. Fennelly said. “And it is fine to see, but it’s not a necessity.”

Guild Hall is planning to have an outdoor beer garden behind the building in conjunction with the play, so an intermission became an even more attractive prospect. And the play itself, what with musical transitions and a few additions — “not a ton, and not extraneous,” Mr. Fennelly said — is a bit longer than it was originally. It ran an hour and 45 minutes in Syracuse, and they were getting some complaints.

“There’s a totally clear place to take a pause, then re-launch with even more zaniness,” the director said. “The play really does come in for a beautiful landing. Taking a break in the middle will allow the audience not to feel the rush of their bladders, and they can receive the beautiful transformation that happens to Louise and Theo and the marriage at the end of the play.”

“The Underpants” will open on June 11 after two previews, next Thursday and on Friday, June 10. It will continue through June 26 with performances Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $40 to $120, with discounts for members, and are available at the Guild Hall box office or online.