The problem most directors have with George M. Cohan's classic 1913 comedy thriller, "Seven Keys to Baldpate," is that word "comedy." It certainly is that, but just as certainly misses the whole point if it's played for comedy. "Baldpate" has to be played straight to get its proper laughs, a trick Cohan was famous for.
In this production at Group Repertory Theatre, director Malcolm Atterbury Jr. not only throws in some sight gags that break the spell, but allows most of his actors to overact in an attempt to provide humor they probably don't realize is already written into the script.
The play is a satire of the thriller genre, which the playwright "Cohanized" (his own term) from the successful novel by Earl Derr Biggers. Cohan was his era's epitome of natural acting, playing it straight no matter how outlandish his scripts were. And this plot is certainly outlandish. For those who aren't familiar with the story, it concerns a pulp novelist who makes a bet with the owner of Baldpate Inn that he can write a successful book in 24 hours in the solitude of the off-season hostelry.
Presuming his key to be the only one, novelist Billy Magee (the Cohan role) soon discovers there are six more keys. They provide entrance to standard melodrama characters, crooked politicians, gunmen, widows, etc. The fun is in their deadpan pursuit of their dastardly aims. Very little of that fun results from Atterbury's campy staging.
