Stage Review: Misogyny is a drag in ‘The Club’

Courtesy of Playhouse on the Square

Misty O'Neal, Sarah Hoch, and Stacey McFadin in "The Club" at TheatreWorks.

"Do you believe in clubs for women?" asks one old chap of another.

"Sure! If every other form of persuasion fails," comes the reply.

Thus goes the sporting persiflage in Eve Merriam's satire, "The Club," set in a posh gentlemen's club of the 1890s, where women are strictly forbidden and men can behave as rudely as they please.

On stage at TheatreWorks, the rakish comedy invites the audience to laugh (or squirm) at the bald-faced misogyny of yesteryear, as opposed to the less exclusive sexism of today (insert blonde jokes or rap songs here).

Merriam (1912-1992), a poet, playwright and author of children's books such as the once-controversial "Inner City Mother Goose," collected actual songs and zingers from the era and loosely tied them together in the form of this hour-and-fifteen-minute sketch, or what she called a "musical diversion."

What makes the sexist joshing remotely sufferable and generally entertaining is the turnabout of having all seven male characters (including the piano accompanist) played by women in male drag. With bow-legged swaggers, pressed tuxedos, and pompous belly laughs, the actresses wryly capture the most excessive masculine airs.

The fine gentlemen include Sally Stover as an imposing older chap whose jutting jaw resembles that of Vito Corleone; Mary Buchignani as a stoic wag with a walrus mustache; Sarah Hoch as the baby-faced newlywed; and Ruth Johnson as a Lincoln-bearded clubman who claims to have married his ugly wife for her money.

Stacey McFadin is an obsequious, tap-dancing bellhop and Misty L. O'Neal is the black busboy whose eyes always roll ironically in our direction -- such as when the super-rich snobs leave just a penny for a tip.

Director Ann Marie Hall, who performed in "The Club" when it premiered in Memphis more than 30 years ago, combines caustic wit with spry physical comedy and keeps it interesting until the last 20 minutes, when Merriam's script simply runs out of things to say. The voices occasionally lack projection, likely due to the actresses singing in a lower register. But the performers, along with make-up artist Nick Bursoni, have made magic with the physical illusion.

"The Club" is not just a peek into an era when elite club life warranted its own weekly column in the New York Times. When the play debuted in 1976, the hard-fought Equal Rights Amendment was on its way to being derailed by conservative forces. ERA foe Phyllis Schlafly notoriously convinced America that being a housewife was a "privilege" that shouldn't be sacrificed on the altar of equality.

In "The Club," women are anything but equals. They are objects in the home: flowers, jewels, pearls and long-legged playthings. "A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke," sings one good ol' boy.

Though the theme of this "musical diversion" remains provocative, the real allure of "The Club" is, nevertheless, a comedy cliche: seeing people dress up as members of the opposite sex. Drag shows never get old.

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"The Club"

Performances at 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Jan. 29 at TheatreWorks, 2085 Monroe. Tickets are $28-$33 adults, $20 seniors and students. Call (901) 726-4656.

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