Review: 'Sly Fox' Suffers from Dated Writing, but Offers a Spirited Cast, Direction

Attleboro Community Theatre's "Sly Fox" is a zany comedy about greed that benefits from a clever script and vibrant, finely-tuned performances.

Foxwell Sly (Fred Wambolt) is a very wealthy man. He lives in a posh San Francisco mansion and has the best life has to offer. There's a chest full of gold that sits at the foot of Sly's bed.

Sly is also a notorious swindler with a cynical view of human nature. His game is to fool his friends and acquaintances into believing he is dying. How badly do they want to inherit his millions, and what will they do to get it?

The action mostly takes place in Sly's bedroom, where a constant parade of colorful schemers and eccentrics arrive to convince the old man to write them into his will.

There's Craven (Patrick Murphy), Sly's conniving lawyer; Abner Truckle (Drew Bennett, filling in for Mike Long), Sly's sleazy accountant; and Miss Fancy (Dawn Ferrisi), a buxom blonde with dreams of marrying Sly.

Wambolt, doing double duty as Sly and Judge Bastardson (read that slowly), has an appealingly diabolical demeanor. Sly's behavior is morally suspect, but his methods are fun.

Alex Aponte, as the crotchety Jethro Crouch, has several funny moments, as does Dave Almeida ("And Then There Were None") as Jethro's father, a blustery Navy captain with a uniform loaded with dozens of medals.

Simon Able (Chase Struss) serves as Sly's butler and trusted confidante. He admires Sly, and helps him with his charade. Struss has a certain charisma about him, as Simon seeks to get the better of his wayward employer.

Writer Larry Gelbart (TV's "MASH," "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum") provides plenty of witty puns, double entendres, and over the top comic situations. The story is based on "Volpone," which was written by Ben Jonson more than 400 years ago. By contrast, Gelbart wrote "Sly Fox" in the 1970s and, sad to say, parts of it have not aged well. The writing for the two main female characters, Miss Fancy and Mrs. Truckle (Carrie-Ann Kayan) is problematic. Fancy is nothing more than a gold-digging tramp who jokes about having sexual escapades with politicians. Truckle is a subservient wife to Abner. Spoilers are below, so consider yourself warned.

At one point, Sly arranges for Abner to give his wife to him as a sexual favor in exchange for the promise of writing him into his will. This is offensive in itself, but things really get out of hand after Sly tries to force himself onto Mrs. Truckle. Sly is accused of rape and later is put on trial. The whole situation is treated as a joke by the characters.

Maybe in the 1970s, a writer could get away with making light of sexual assault, but in the twenty-first century, it seems tone-deaf at best. Could any woman who has been a victim of harassment be able to laugh at these scenes?

In spite of these lapses in taste, "Sly Fox" amusingly portrays a crazy bunch of people doing horrible things for money. I laughed loudly and often. For a comedy, that's enough. Moreover, Director Jeanne Smith's staging is creative, and the set design (Tammy England and Smith) is truly gorgeous.

Sly Fox runs through June 22 at Attleboro Community Players, 71 North Main St., Attleboro, MA. Run time is 2 hours 30 minutes with intermission. For tickets, call 508-226-8100 or visit www.attleborocommunitytheatre.net.