Review: Jungle Theater's 'Dinner for One' one-ups British original

Just once, can James the butler bus the dishes without tripping over the rug?

The question arises at regular intervals in "Dinner for One," the hourlong comedy that opened Saturday at the Jungle Theater.

James, as played with subversive propriety and mild annoyance by Jim Lichtscheidl, varies the toe-stubbing. But as he catches his foot on different parts of the rug, the character suggests a musician exploring an old instrument for new notes. The bit is endlessly entertaining and just one of the many elements that makes this show so charming.

Based on a 1934 sketch, "Dinner" has been a holiday tradition in Britain and Europe for decades. In importing it, the Jungle has adapted it for American accents and sensibilities.

The changes, I daresay, improve on it. Here are the six most striking things about the production.

1. I see dead people

Lichtscheidl co-created "Dinner" with co-star Sun Mee Chomet and director Christina Baldwin. The action revolves around a dinner table where Miss Sophie (Chomet, regally attired to resemble a tiara-ed empress) is celebrating her 90th birthday. Miss Sophie has ordered up her usual four-course meal for her friends Sir Toby, Adm. von Schneider, Mr. Pomeroy and Mr. Winterbottom.

The food — mulligatawny soup, haddock, chicken and fruit for dessert — is real. But the guests are imaginary since all are dead. James, the hapless help, has to do full-bodied impersonations of each of the four men, naughty quirks and all, for Miss Sophie's pleasure.

2. No drink and scarf 'til you plink and barf

James also knocks back copious spirits as he plays each of the men.

The British version of "Dinner" centers much of its humor on James drinking himself quite literally under the table. But Baldwin and her Jungle collaborators mute the drunken stupor humor. They instead find laughs in the sharply drawn quirks and manners of each of the characters, and the ridiculousness of James, nay, Lichtscheidl, having to switch willy-nilly among five demanding personalities as they cater to Miss Sophie's memories.

3. From besotted to mildly dotty

The other major change in "Dinner" is around age. As Sophie becomes a nonagenarian, some of the jokes have traditionally been about her dottiness as she loses both memory and mental presence. But Chomet's Sophie is far younger and fully in possession of faculties. Importantly, she also is fully and sensually embodied with lots of suggestive humor.

As Sophie smiles, it's clear that this dinner is a kind of game she plays to deal with loss and to amuse herself. It's her birthday, after all, and why shouldn't her febrile imagination be pleasured on such a special day?

4. Très élégant

Baldwin has staged the show with grace, and her characters move with a studied beauty. Designer Ora Jewell-Busche dressed them in classy, class-telling costumes. They are lit warmly by Marcus Dilliard on Eli Sherlock's elegantly evocative set.

The action is accompanied by Emilia Mettenbrink's live violin-piano combo, inventively housed stage right in an elevated big picture frame. The music accents the moods of the characters, with nervous passages giving way to sweet lyricism as Sophie gets lost in some lovely memories.

5. Bon appétit

"Dinner" works because of the stars' virtuosic performances.

One of the most gifted comic actors working in the Twin Cities, Lichtscheidl brings a broad physical vocabulary to James, acting with his eyes, his face, even the way he breathes as he deftly summons the sometimes impossible predicament of Sophie's manservant.

Lichtscheidl even finds some rebellion in switching between characters, as when Sophie summons James to come but one of her guests tells him not to so that he can finish his point. A clever joke from the joker within.

6. Sizzling chemistry

Sophie is almost like a prompt for James, but Chomet finds restrained depth and wit in her. Chomet, too, uses facial gestures and a grace-filled, generous mien to undercut some of the harsh class distinctions of the piece — another improvement on the British original.

And she has excellent chemistry with Lichtscheidl. In fact, the pair work so well together, they broke character at Saturday's evening performance. Their suppressed laughter gave us permission to cackle out loud, a fitting metaphor for a "Dinner" that's comically savory.

'Dinner for One'
Who: Co-created by Jim Lichtscheidl, Sun Mee Chomet and director Christina Baldwin.
Where: Jungle Theater, 2951 Lyndale Av. S., Mpls.
When: 7:30 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 2 & 7:30 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Dec. 31.
Tickets: $45 or pay-as-you-can. 612-822-7063 or jungletheater.org.