A Perfect Gentleman

American Review:

A Perfect Gentleman Both Witty and Loving
The Kansas City Star
by Robert W. Butler

If Herbert Appleman's A Perfect Gentleman is not a perfect play, it is nevertheless a perfectly delightful one: a comedy that deftly juggles sentiment and wit, a quality all but forgotten in this world of TV sitcoms, within a beautifully evoked historic setting.

For its professional American debut, Missouri Repertory Theater and director John Reich have done the play justice dramatically and have perhaps gone even a step further technically. It may be worth seeing twice just to concentrate on Vincent Scassellati's superb costumes.

Set in 18th-century London, A Perfect Gentleman depicts the efforts of the celebrated and now-retired Lord Chesterfield to turn his illegitimate son, Philip, into a budget version of himself by arranging for the young man to marry a well-connected widow, buying him a seat in Parliament and bribing the prime minister to give Philip an ambassadorship to Venice.

Alas, Philip is not a promising specimen. He is, in fact, a thoroughly ordinary fellow, what his father would call a "booby." Therein lies the play's universal conflict: the desire to please a parent while being true to oneself. That theme, and the love that binds generations, is examined by Appleman through superb use of language, a fine sense of irony and a genuine feel for the parent-child relationship.

It is language that sets A Perfect Gentleman apart and makes it very nearly unique in contemporary comedy. This is precision writing, the sort of dialogue so evocative of personality and circumstance that eye-popping costumes and sets could be dispensed with altogether without detracting from the play's effectiveness.