Review: DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS at the Stratford Festival is a Hilarious Romp

Last night, Director Tracey Flye’s production of DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS opened at the Stratford Festival’s Avon Theatre. One of two musicals mounted at the Festival this season, this production is paired well with its counterpart, ANNIE. As musical comedies go, they simply could not be more different from one another tonally. Patrons who are seeking something edgier or who perhaps have a more cynical outlook on life than optimistic Annie, will enjoy the hijinks of Lawrence and Freddy. I personally suggest seeing both musicals though. After all, as is evidenced in this production, we all contain multitudes.

Written by Jeffrey Lane with music and lyrics by David Yazbek, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS is a musical comedy based on the 1988 film of the same name starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin. It premiered on Broadway in 2005 and I suspect that as was the case for this reviewer, this Stratford production will be the first time most audience members have the opportunity to see it live. It’s the story of two con men – the polished and charismatic Lawrence (Jonathan Goad), who has refined his craft of conning wealthy women vacationing in the French Riviera, and the unpolished up-and-comer (who is also charismatic) Freddy (Liam Tobin), who is eager first to learn from Lawrence and then to challenge him. When the two men compete to see who can scam “American Soap Queen” Christine Colgate (Shakura Dickson) out of $50,000, hilarious hijinks ensue and they get more than they bargained for.

Jonathan Goad and Liam Tobin are a formidable due as Lawrence and Freddy. The are charming, funny, they play off each other wonderfully, and they sing it well. Goad glides across the stage charming everyone he comes into contact with, trying on multiple comedic accents as he does it. Tobin’s hysterical and high energy performance as Freddy absolutely steals the show. It is unquestionable that this is his star turn at the Stratford Festival. By the nature of the plot, what Shakura Dickson is tasked with doing as Christine Colgate is underappreciated for the majority of the show. She plays the wide-eyed do-gooder role to great effect and fully nails the payoff for her character. She also has a beautiful singing voice. As a trio, these three are wonderful.

Sara-Jeanne Hosie, Derek Kwan, and Michelle Shuster also have fun stand-out moments in the show. Kwan has great chemistry with both Goad and later Hosie as Lawrence’s accomplice Andre Thibault, who is tasked with distracting Hosie’s Muriel Eubanks who is a hilariously willing and repeated victim of one of Lawrence’s ongoing scams. Shuster portrays Jolene Oakes – a woman who mistakenly believes she and Lawrence are to be wed. She is a delight to watch as she takes centre stage in her number Oklahoma and equally as entertaining as we see her come to regret everything in All About Rubprecht.

Speaking of the Ruprecht number, I found myself conflicted watching this scene. To scare off Jolene, Lawrence and Freddy hatch a plan to trick her into thinking Freddy is Lawrence’s strange secret brother, Ruprecht. The fake brother lives in a dungeon-like basement, has no manners, is vulgar, obscene, and inappropriately sexual. The number is hilarious. Tobin’s physical comedy here is pure gold. The insinuation though, is that there is something ‘wrong’ with Ruprecht. It is not specifically stated that he has an intellectual disability (and in fact a lyric has been changed to make this even more vague, and I applaud this decision), but it is implied. Lawrence and Freddy do numerous immoral things throughout this show and are hardly role models for good behaviour, so the show certainly is not sending any kind of message that this behaviour is appropriate, nor does it feel like a disability is being mocked - but it is still uncomfortable enough that I would feel awkward bringing a friend or family member with an intellectual disability to see the show and explaining the purpose of this number. I hesitate to even mention this because it’s a qualm I have with the story and not this particular production or any performance or piece of direction within it. In fact, it’s clear that the director and the cast took some care in mapping out this scene. It is an interesting exploration of the comedy of the 1980s and even of 2005, vs comedy of today though. All of this said, the scene serves the plot and is appropriately outrageous, and Tobin is at the top of his game here.

For the most part, this show is surprisingly ageless in terms of its humour, though there have been a few additional tweaks to lyrics. I realized this morning that there was an omission of a reference to the current US president in the number Great Big Stuff, and in chatting about that with a member of the company, I was informed that a few other things have been changed as well. It’s nice to know that those with the rights to the show are open to changes like this to better fit the age we live in.

Speaking of age, something that delights me about this show is that I frequently observed audience members ranging in age from 20 to 80 doubled over with laughter at the same scenes. Everyone’s comedic timing is superb and even when you see a twist coming, the lead-up is delectably hilarious…for all ages.

The ensemble of this production shines brightly and execute Stephanie Graham’s choreography to perfection. The choreography they are tasked with ranges from elegant ballroom to a silly country dance number with animated facial expressions, and to a person, they are sublime.

This production is great addition to the 2025 season that theatre-lovers will surely enjoy. I also suspect that visitors to Stratford who want to catch a show, but perhaps aren’t huge theatre buffs will be flocking to DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS. The humour from the film translates well and it’s simply a great night at the theatre.

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS continues in Repertory at the Avon Theatre until October 25th.

PHOTO CREDIT: David Hou