Communicating Doors

During intermission at Peninsula Players Theater's Communicating Doors, members of the Peninsula Players audience tried to puzzle out the play's twisted time frame. Was Phoebe, the not-so-young prostitute, being threatened in 2019 or 1999? Were Ruella and Jessica, the threatened wives of Reece, talking in 1999 or 1979? And what was up with the mad killer, Julian, following them through time? Communicating Doors isn't easy to sum up. The Alan Ayckbourn play is part thriller, part comedy and part time-travel epic.

The play centers on three women and a single suite in a swanky London hotel. We first meet Phoebe, who calls herself Poopay, after she has been hired to give Reece, a wealthy businessman, a night of, er, "fun." But she soon discovers that Reece only wants her to sign his confession, in which he admits that his associate, Julian, killed both of Reece's wives. Phoebe does sign, but Julian discovers Reece's plan and tries to kill the witness. She tries to escape through a connecting, or "communicating," door. But instead of leading to another suite, it leads to the past. Phoebe meets Reece's second wife, Ruella, on the night she is going to be killed. Ruella discovers that she also can travel back in time, arriving in 1979, the night Reece and Jessica -- his first wife -- had their honeymoon.  Across 40 years, the three try to save themselves from death. It isn't easy, since it seems that Julian can also travel back in time through the door.

While the plot sounds, and is, serious, Ayckbourn also loads Communicating Doors with funny lines and moments, including a few that wouldn't be out of place in a French farce. In fact, there is even a little cross-dimensional door slamming in the play. Ayckbourn is a popular English playwright, with more than 50 plays to his credit. He has even been called the English Neil Simon. (Unlike Simon, however, Ayckbourn's plays are still funny.) Each of the three women -- Kate Fry, Carmen Roman and Amy McKenzi - gives a fine, nuanced performance. As Reece, David New moves with ease from young to old, giving each persona a personality of his own. Julian is never more than an enigma in the script, but Tim Monsion stretches the character, giving some clues to his motivations. What problems the show has come mainly from the script. The action can be confusing at times, and patrons are advised to read through the show notes before the action starts.

The ending, similar to that of "Back to the Future," is also disappointing. While the actors provide a nice emotional end to the play, something stronger -- and perhaps stranger -- would have befitted the show. With all of this, director Todd Schmidt has crafted a fine evening, full of comedy, a few real thrills and and even somethings to ponder on the way home.