by Domanic Taylor » Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:26 pm
As the curtain is drawn, the play begins. The first of the three performances is a drama. A rich member of Parliament's House of Lords is staying at a hotel. He treats everyone around him badly, the staff, the drunken bum loitering outside the hotel, the prostitute he's with, everyone. Though the staff and others have some triumphs, and some good, if short dramatic scenes, the whole thing is pretty tragic. Lord Wexer is a through bastard to everyone, and he pretty much gets away with it. The final scene of the first performance is the Lord leaving the hotel, and the staff wishing he could be in their shoes for just one day.
The curtain drops, rises again, and so it is! Lord Wexer is still in his fancy suit, but he is standing behind the reception desk. The receptionist/manager walks into the hotel with the prostitute, kindly giving some money to the bum loitering at the door. The second performance plays out very much like a comedic revenge play, with the staff inflicting many of the same indignities they suffered on Lord Wexer, but more gently so as not to be so cruel. The whole time, the characters have not changed, merely the roles. Lord Wexer still firmly believes he is a Lord of Parliament and is extremely indignant and red-faced about the whole affair.
The curtain closes and rises a third time, and this time the Lord is sitting on the steps of the hotel, drunk as well... a Lord. The prostitute is behind the reception desk, while the bum is walking in as a guest with the male receptionist on his arm. What follows is an extremely bawdy comedy that has the audience in stitches. Once again, each character seems to be the same person from the first iteration of the film, and no explanation is given as to why they are in a vastly different role.
By the end, Lumis is laughing heartily, and he claps vigorously as the curtain goes down, then comes up for the last time to reveal the cast taking their bow.
