The Man Who Came to Dinner

Attleboro Community Theatre's "The Man Who Came to Dinner" is a show, like its titular character, that overstays its welcome.

The play, first performed in 1939, takes place in the Stanley home in Ohio, where famous radio personality Sheridan Whiteside (Bruce Church) has been recuperating after slipping on the ice outside.

Whiteside is a mean-spirited and selfish man who threatens to sue the Stanleys for his injuries. Confined to a wheelchair, he barks out vicious insults and makes the Stanleys feel like outsiders in their own house.

Sheridan has no shortage of people catering to his every whim, including his longtime secretary Maggie (a likable Joyce Leven), doctor (Jeffrey Massery), nurse (Marissa Simas), and the Stanley's butler John (David Mann).

Whiteside also provides unsolicited advice to the Stanley children: June (Melissa Reinertson) and Richard (Dylan Troiano), a budding photographer.

The main problem with "The Man Who Came to Dinner" is that it's overstuffed with characters and subplots. Playwrights George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, who also wrote the classic "You Can't Take It With You," throw in everything but the kitchen sink. Sometimes less is more.

There are all sorts of oddities traipsing in and out of the Stanley house: convicted murderers, radio technicians, a flamboyant actor, police officers, and even a penguin menagerie.

A cockroach farm is brought into the living room by a kooky scientist (Mike Capalbo) and we anticipate the moment when the glass will break so the roaches will scatter all over the floor and cause havoc. That never happens, not even off stage.

Many of the cultural references are too obscure, especially for younger members of the audience. I know who Joan Crawford and Oscar Wilde are, but I doubt many others under the age of 40 would know.

The sexual politics of "The Man Who Came to Dinner" are also outdated. Whiteside is a misogynist who considers Lorraine nothing more than a prostitute. What's even worse is she seems to embrace it.

Another example: Banjo (Capalbo again), one of Whiteside's minions, attempts to sexually assault his nurse. The scene is played for laughs, but in the #metoo era, it's in very poor taste. Co-directors Lori Perry and Jeanne Smith would have been wise to leave it out.

The plot progression often renders the characters' actions incomprehensible.

At the end of the first act, Whiteside discovers his legs aren't broken yet he decides to keep up his charade of being disabled so he can stay in the house. This happens after Whiteside describes the place as a "moldy mortuary."

The interminable second act focuses on Whiteside's efforts to sabotage the blooming romance between Maggie and newspaper reporter Bert Jefferson (well-played by Jim Poore).

Whiteside is paid a visit by the vixen Lorraine (Ryan Foster) who ends up falling in love with Bert before being locked inside a giant mummy case. By this point, I couldn't bring myself to care.

Church fires off some amusing zingers, but his cranky curmudgeon routine gets tiring after awhile. Whiteside is the kind of man you want to see get his just desserts. However, when he finally does, it's too little, too late.

"The Man Who Came to Dinner" runs for a very long three hours.

"Good God! When will this drivel ever end?," Whiteside exclaims at one point.

For once, I knew exactly how he felt.

"The Man Who Came to Dinner" runs through December 15. Attleboro Community Theater. Ezekiel Bates Masonic Lodge, 71 North Main St., Attleboro, MA. For tickets, visit attleborocommunitytheatre.com or call 508-226-8100.