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Sam Ashdown, top, Katrina Michaels, left, and Josh Cahn, right, in a scene from North Coast Repertory Theatre\u2019s \u201cBeau Jest.\u201d (Aaron Rumley)<\/p>\nAs theater audiences learned in \u201cFiddler on the Roof,\u201d Jewish parents by tradition want their children to marry within the faith.<\/p>\n
And so it goes in James Sherman\u2019s 1989 play \u201cBeau Jest,\u201d which opened in an entertaining new production Saturday at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach.<\/p>\n
The play is about Sarah, an anxious young woman living a double life. She has secretly dated a gentile named Chris for a year, while telling her religious parents she\u2019s seeing a Jewish doctor named \u201cDavid.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Passover arrives, her family wants to meet her beau. But instead of coming clean about her lies, Sarah hires an actor named Bob to portray \u201cDr. David\u201d at the family\u2019s Seder meal. As it turns out, Bob isn\u2019t Jewish either, but he played one on a \u201cFiddler on the Roof\u201d tour, so he\u2019s game to act the part and make things up as he goes.<\/p>\n
Sam Ashdown, top, Katrina Michaels, left, and Josh Cahn, right, in a scene from North Coast Repertory Theatre\u2019s \u201cBeau Jest.\u201d (Aaron Rumley)<\/p>\n
Sherman\u2019s two-hour comedy isn\u2019t perfect. Sarah is an excessively whiny character whose dishonesty is off-putting. The Passover Seder scene is funny but it goes on longer than it should. And you\u2019ll see the ending coming well before intermission.<\/p>\n
The play also feels dated. While it may be true that Jewish parents might forbid a non-Jewish son-in-law in 1905 Anatevka (\u201cFiddler\u201d) or even 1980s Chicago (\u201cBeau Jest\u201d), it\u2019s harder to relate to Sarah\u2019s extended deception in today\u2019s America.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the North Coast Rep production has a terrific director, Omri Schein, who keeps the momentum building and the laugh-out-loud moments frequent. And the six actors in this farcical rom-com are united in their performance style and improvisational tone.<\/p>\n
Two actors in the cast ground the story and contribute some of the play\u2019s funniest scenes. As Bob the actor, Sam Ashdown is charming, warm and likably down to earth, creating a character that any potential in-laws would love. And the hilarious Josh Cahn, as Sarah\u2019s therapist brother, Joel, acts as the audience\u2019s surrogate. He sees right through Bob\u2019s act and his shocked expressions, raised eyebrows and comic double-takes contribute some of the most amusing moments in the show.<\/p>\n
As Sarah, Katrina Michaels has the toughest role and she doesn\u2019t flinch from showing her character\u2019s weaknesses. But she ably transforms Sarah by the end. Joel Polis and Jill Remez are gruff but endearing as Sarah\u2019s set-in-their-ways parents. And Benjamin Cole is a likable milquetoast as Sarah\u2019s original boyfriend, Chris.<\/p>\n
Marty Burnett designed Sarah\u2019s well-appointed Chicago apartment, Jennifer Brawn Gittings designed costumes, Evan Eason designed sound and Matthew Novotny designed lighting.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeau Jest\u201d is not only a play about family and romance. It\u2019s also about faith, which in this play proves to be a unifying theme rather than a disrupter.<\/p>\n
\u2018Beau Jest\u2019<\/p>\n
When:<\/strong> 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 8\u00a0 p.m. Fridays; 2\u00a0 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. and Sundays. Through May 24.<\/p>\n