Elling

This sweet and quirky comedy, based on a novel by Ingvar Ambjornsen from Norway, made its debut in Oslo in 1999. A film version won the Oscar for Best Foreign Picture in 2002. The play has been seen all over Europe and now, finally, we have it on Broadway with Denis O’Hare in the title role and Brendan Fraser starring opposite him as friend Kjell. Jennifer Coolidge is the featured woman playing multiple roles and Richard Easton and Jeremy Shamos appear in supporting roles. This is an English adaptation by Simon Bent from the play and screenplay by Axel Hellstenius and Petter Naess. This tidy little play is very simply designed by Scott Pask for the set and Catherine Zuber for the costumes. Director Doug Hughes refers to the play as “Children’s Theatre for Adults.” This doesn’t really refer to the child-like nature of the characters, but rather the style of presentation, which has the actors moving two beds, a table and a few chairs around to depict the various spaces they inhabit. This hands on aspect of the production adds to the charm of the whole thing and with this cast it is very charming indeed.

When the curtain goes up there is applause for the movie star Brendan Fraser, looking strangely hefty and nothing like his familiar action hero movie image. Then out pops the Broadway star, Denis O’Hare, and again there is healthy applause. The first woman to walk on stage is someone we’ve never seen before and she is not welcomed with applause. Turns out, five lines in, that she is a well disguised Jennifer Coolidge. In the next scene she walks on looking more familiar and is greeted with applause. I felt a little sorry for her on her first entrance, having to follow the two leading men after hearing entrance applause and then walking on to nothing. Doug Hughes didn’t consider this, but then again I saw the very first performance and perhaps something will be done to help that. Not that anything that is staged is wrong, but there is an unfortunate imbalance in the way the stars are introduced. Poor Richard Easton has a thankless role, but he is enjoyable in his small way, while Jeremy Shamos as the Social Worker has a meatier part and gives a good sturdy performance in the “straight” role to the comedians.

The comedians are wonderful. Brendan Fraser and Denis O’Hare play two men released from the asylum to prove whether or not they can share a regular apartment and survive in society. The humor is in how they negotiate the real world as essentially boys in men’s bodies. Jennifer Coolidge keeps showing up in new wigs and costumes, creating one comic character after the other. A number of good actresses could be funny in this role, but there is something so specifically tickling about Jennifer Coolidge and she made the show for me.

I wonder what kind of room there is for a little comedy like this in today’s Broadway? I would hope, because this play is inherently theatrical, that it will be embraced and run long enough to make back its investment. The play has three well liked actors who should help sell tickets and it is both heartfelt and funny, so there is no reason why it should not be a success. However, the unusual subject mixed with the lightness of it might make it seem unimportant and in today’s economy a Broadway show must seem important. There must be an important subject, an important performance, or an impressive staging. There must be the excitement of a promised thrill that is then delivered. ELLING is none of these things and perhaps its life is really meant for the regional theatre market where I can imagine it will be enjoyed often. It will be interesting to see how this production fares. I would like to see it win.