Cast, play achieve snug fit

The story plays like an over-the-top TV sitcom or 'Saturday Night Live' skit.
By GARRY L. CLARK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Second Stage Blackbox Productions at Youngstown State University opened its one-weekend run of "The Underpants" Thursday evening to a capacity crowd that rewarded the cast with raucous laughter and thunderous applause.
This farce, adapted by comedian Steve Martin from a German play by Carl Steinheim, is jam-packed with double-entendre, innuendo and plain old comedy for which Martin is most famous.
It plays like an over-the-top television sitcom or even an extra-long sketch from "Saturday Night Live," and in the hands of Alexi Stavrou in his directorial debut, it delivered just what it promises: guffaws of laughter.
Plot
Set in Germany in 1910, the story begins with -- ah, what was that phrase they used at the Super Bowl? Oh yes, a "wardrobe malfunction." It seems Louise, our heroine, and her husband, Theo, were in attendance at a parade at which the king was participating and just as he was passing by her underpants fell down around her ankles. Janet Jackson's got nothing on this gal.
Theo is absolutely livid over the incident and, more importantly to him, how it might affect his job in government service. He is the epitome of a belligerent, obnoxious husband who is clueless to his wife's needs and desires. In brief, he's got his shorts in a twist over the whole episode.
The couple, in order to earn enough money to start a family, have a room for rent, and in true comedic fashion, Louise rents the room to one man while Theo rents it to another. Both men, however, have ulterior motives, centered on gaining Louise's attentions, although Theo is blissfully (some would say stupidly) unaware of their intentions toward his lovely young wife.
Of course there is the requisite nosy neighbor, Gertrude, who lives upstairs and freely admits to living vicariously through Louise, and then there is the odd stranger, Klinglehoff, who appears to throw yet another bizarre twist into the fray. Even the king himself gets in on the action.
Cast
The excellent ensemble cast worked well with each other and featured Noelle Nackino as Louise, Shaun Timothy Brown as Theo, Elizabeth Farrow as Cohen (yes, a woman in a man's role, making things all the more odd), Darin Munnell as Versati, Kari Kleemook as Gertrude, Anthony Genovese as Klinglehoff (whose mere entrances ignited laughter) and Ryan Ruth as the king. All displayed near-perfect comedic timing throughout the performance.