It’s drama for a family with problems, but comedy for audience

The last thing most people want is an evening of family drama, but that’s just what Macon Little Theatre is offering in “Beau Jest.”

Director Joseph Whidby gives assurances it won’t be the bad kind of family drama. He said it will tickle your funny bone again and again.

And, Whidby said seeing “Beau Jest” makes for a perfect pre-Valentine’s Day romantic comedy date night, but one that’s good for the whole family, too.

“Our play, ‘Beau Jest,’ is about a good Jewish girl with a problem,” Whidby said. “Her problem is her boyfriend isn’t Jewish, and she’s worried what her parents will think. To solve her problem, she gets an actor to play the role of a Jewish boyfriend for the sake of her parents, But as you’d imagine, it gets complicated. She starts having feelings for him and in reality, he’s not Jewish either.”

Comedy results from crisscrossed circumstances, mistaken identities and Sarah’s attempts to pull off the deception. But Whidby said the real laughs come from his talented cast’s pulling off amusing but real characters with their fast-paced banter and stage presence.

“There’s one setting for the entire play, Sarah’s apartment, so that is simple,” he said. “But you’re carried here and there to some great laughs by complicated, rapid-fire dialogue and particularly the banter between Sarah’s parents. Our actors are just so good at this.”

Yet Whidby said take care: While laughing there may be something to learn.

“It’s really a play — a fun, funny play — about family,” he said. “It’s set in a Jewish family, but it’s really much more universal and about all of us. It’s about family and being an individual, and I suppose at the end of the day ‘Beau Jest’ probes questions like how to be true to yourself while trying to please others and if not being true to yourself or honest with others is the way to build real, caring relationships.”

And there’s one other thing.

“There’s that,” Whidby said, “plus the idea you might as well tell the truth because in the end you’re going to get caught in the lie anyway. But in this case it does make for some delicious humor along the way.”

Whidby, who grew up in Gray, has been in involved with Macon Little Theatre for 11 years and has played many leading roles, such as in the comedy “Hotbed Hotel.” “Beau Jest” is his second outing as director with the company, the first being “The Trip to Bountiful” in October. He has acted and directed in many other settings, including Georgia College, where he studied theater, and Griffin High School, where he taught drama.

This story was originally published January 31, 2018 at 8:28 PM with the headline "It’s drama for a family with problems, but comedy for audience."