Is He Dead?
Reviewed by David Kashimba
Photo by Eric Chazankin

 Cinnabar Theater gives us the opportunity to experience the wit of one of America’s favorite writers. Mark Twain’s comic play Is He Dead? brings to mind George Bernard Shaw’s words: “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.” But Cinnabar’s fantastic cast, under the direction of Elizabeth Craven and Barton Smith, makes this comedy look easy. “We had so much fun working on this production,” said Craven emphasizing the fact that there was a lot of laughter during rehearsals. And the fun experienced by the entire cast translates to audience laughter that’s downright contagious.

Twain wrote this play in 1898 and ironically it was never produced in his lifetime. The irony lies in the fact that the play is about how artists get very little recognition while they’re alive. They actually seem to be worth more dead than alive. This is the case with Jean-Francois Millet (Nick Sholley), an artist who can’t paint his way out of debt. Realizing that the only way he could get a decent price for his paintings is if he’s dead, he and his friends fake his own death and disguise him as his fictitious twin sister Daisy.

Of course that’s when the fun shifts into high gear, because Bastien Andre (Chris Murphy) falls in love with Daisy and promises to forget about all the money her twin brother owes him if she promises to marry him. Then there’s Jean-Francois’ girlfriend Marie (Jenna Hoff) who is grief stricken by her true love’s death but can’t understand why she’s so attracted to his twin sister. There’s also Marie’s sister Cecile (Laura Lowry) who thinks her boyfriend is having an affair with Daisy. Like in Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, mistaken identities and emotions keep piling up and interweaving into a mountain of fun that will keep you laughing so hard it will bring tears to your eyes.

For tickets or more information call 707-763-8920 or visit www.cinnabartheater.org.

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