Fast-paced sex farce raises director's profile

Let's all do director Sean Graney a favor and dispense once and for all with the "wunderkind," "auteur" and "up-and-comer" tags.For years writers described him that way. But at 35, the savvy Graney, a Chicago fixture for more than a decade, is no longer a rising young star. He's arrived. And it's time to call him what he is: a darn good director.That's not news to anyone familiar with his work with his company, The Hypocrites, whose production of Graney's one-act, "The 4th Graders Present and Unnamed-Love Suicide" opened off-Broadway last month as part of the Go!Chicago Festival.Graney's profile has risen steadily, especially in the last few years. In 2004, Chicago Magazine named him avant-garde director of the year. Besides working with The Hypocrites, he served as assistant director of Steppenwolf Theatre's "The Pillowman" last fall. This summer, he directed the Chicago Children's Theatre's "Honus and Me" at Goodman Theatre, and last month he returned to Steppenwolf to stage a young adults production of "The Elephant Man."Now he caps off the year with a feisty, fast-paced, physical revival of Joe Orton's sex farce "What the Butler Saw," which opened Saturday at Court Theatre. The show marks Graney's directorial debut for this local titan with East Coast ties, and as first-time collaborations go, it's a winner. Mostly.A wry, ribald look at repression, "Butler" (whose title refers to a 19th century peep show of the same name) skewers marriage, psychiatry, authority (the playwright lampoons both politicos and the police), religion and gender roles. Orton's cheeky comedy about a psychiatrist (Blake Montgomery) attempting to seduce his secretary (Mechelle Moe) has everything you expect: risqu#233; (and aggressively un-PC) humor; sexual indiscretions; slapstick; mistaken identity and cross-dressing topped off with some nudity (at some point, most of the characters wind up in their skivvies or less), a bit of shrieking and the requisite door slams. I confess I've never been a big fan of farce, but reading this play made me laugh out loud. Seeing it live made me laugh louder. Graney has his hands firmly on the reigns during the dizzying first act. It's when his grips slackens in the increasingly over-the-top second act that the show nearly careens out of control. But it stays pretty much on track thanks in part to a first-rate cast who deliver with panache deadpan asides like "You can't take a lover in Asia, the airfare would be crippling;" "My uterine contractions have been bogus for some time" and "No position is impossible when you're young and healthy." This production works as well as it does because the actors play it sincere, gleefully and convincingly committing to their oddball characters. There's Montgomery's lustful (and likely latently homosexual) Dr. Prentice, who sets his sights on Geraldine (a genuine, endearing Moe), the put-upon secretary and the play's most lucid character. Mary Beth Fisher is deliciously denigrating as Mrs. Prentice, a cougar with a taste for younger men, in this case blackmailing bellman Nicholas (JB Waterman, a trouper absent too long from Chicago stages), who's being investigated by Sergeant Match (Eric Slater), a well-meaning cop with a feline fetish. Then there's Joe Foust (seemingly having the time of his life) in a droll, perfectly pitched performance as the ridiculous Dr. Rance, a camera-wielding government inspector who never lets facts get in the way of a sensational diagnosis. The show distinguishes itself by being indistinct. It has a timeless feel. Jacqueline Firkins' retro costumes hint at '60s mod, but sappy recurring movie themes ("Arthur," "Terms of Endearment" "Rocky III's" "Eye of the Tiger") say early '80s. Kevin Depinet's sleek, attractive office combining dark wood, frosted glass and leather feels like the late 1960s decor, but the Mac and cell place it in the 21st century. For all his talent, Graney's not infallible. Mostly the play unfolds as a controlled bit of lunacy enhanced by silly sight gags and broken up with a couple of showdowns that inject a bit of (unnecessary) gravity. But the second act turns chaotic. Light and sound effects and plot points become more obvious and distracting. The tone shifts from slyly farcical to self-consciously absurd as the show rushes to its conclusion. All of which suggests there were a few stops Graney shouldn't have pulled. Even so, the wunderkind's a darn good director. "What The Butler Saw"Rating: Three stars out of fourLocation: Court Theatre, University of Chicago, 5535 S. Ellis Ave., ChicagoTimes: 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8 p.m. Fridays; 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2:30 and 7 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 9Running time: About 2 hours, 10 minutes, including intermissionTickets: $38-$54Parking: Free lot adjacent to theaterBox office: (773) 753-4472 or www.courttheatre.orgRating: For adults. Contains nudity, sexual situations, ribald humor