A majority of the characters in Anouilh’s farce are superficial and snooty. They only care for the well-being of themselves.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Theatre Department presented the farce, “Ring Round the Moon” this past week at the Main Stage Theatre. The play, written by Jean Anouilh, takes place in the spring of 1912 in the gardens of a French chateau.

In the program notes, Michelle Lopez-Rios wrote, “What better way to spend a cold December evening than with an unruly group of players?” And she was right.

A majority of the characters in Anouilh’s farce are superficial and snooty. They only care for their own well-being.

The exception to this rule comes in act two when the audience meets Isabelle and Frederic. Both are sensitive characters devoted to love over money and power. Frederic’s brother, Hugo, is the complete opposite of him. He is very snide and invites Isabelle to come to a grand ball in the play in the hopes she will break Frederic’s heart.

The soap opera plot plays out fairly well with this stellar cast. The comedic duo of Patrice and Lady India, played by Matthew Belopavlovich and Kaija Rayne was very funny. Both of these strong actors reminded me of the hilarious duo of Karen and Jack in the TV series “Will and Grace.”

I could tell the dance sequence in act one between Belopavlovich and Rayne was dynamically timed and rehearsed. Their constant banter as they tangoed and waltzed across the ballroom floor left many audience members almost falling out of their seats with laughter.

Another stellar comedic performance came from Robyn Starkey, who played Madame Desmortes. She had wonderful physicality with her character, an old woman bound to a wheelchair. Though the pitch of her voice seemed young at times because of its high tone, she was very strong in portraying this aggressive character.

Darrel Cherney, who played the twin brothers Frederic and Hugo, was very delightful in his role. Cherney is a very strong actor who has an amazing quality of keeping the audience engaged whenever he takes the stage. Cherney did a phenomenal job in playing both brothers and executed a defiant personality between them both.

Amanda Hull was suited well for her role as the melodramatic mother of Isabelle. She has discovered a wonderful voice inflection for her character and her performance was splendid to watch.

I was not impressed with Laura Katharina Sedlak’s performance of Isabelle. I did not believe the scene in which she professes her love to Frederic. I felt she was very internal with her emotions and was upstaged by other actors during her scenes.

I was also confused by the casting choice of the character Romainville. David Bohn, who was chosen to play him, came off as a bad Martin Short character that left me sick to my stomach each time he entered and exited the stage.

I struggled a lot with the wordiness of Anouilh’s script. Many times throughout “Ring Round the Moon,” characters would launch into long, tiresome monologues about their past experiences with life. These stories did not seem to serve much purpose to the plot, and if they were to be cut I believe the show would be 30 minutes shorter.

The set for “Ring Round the Moon,” was very impressive. Just like the set for “Seven Guitars,” I couldn’t help but notice how detailed and intricately it was presented. Beautiful stone tile adorned the floor while a bounty of green plants filled the white terrace. Also, there were many different levels to the set that kept my eyes interested in the characters’ movement throughout the wordy show.

“Ring Round the Moon” is a charming production that focuses on characters and their troubling relationships with one another. Director Rios noted in the program that she made sure to remind her cast of this at every rehearsal. Though some acting was weak, I felt a majority of the cast gave strong performances.

In the future, I would like to see the UWM Theatre present plays that are more contemporary in style, such as “Seven Guitars.” I feel these productions speak more to the diverse community of Milwaukee and define the modern theatre foundation that distinguishes UWM’s theatre from other training programs.

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