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Ayckbourn farce takes the stage at Craterian Peter Wickliffe, top, Ric Hagerman and Max Gutfreund appear in Next Stage Repertory's production of "Taking Steps." Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch Wednesday Aug 31, 2016 at 12:14 PM Aug 31, 2016 at 12:14 PM Laurie Heuston Mail Tribune Playwright Alan Ayckbourn's farcical comedy "Taking Steps" uses a clever, physical-theater technique to drive its fast-paced action. The absurdity unfolds in the downstairs living room, upstairs master bedroom and attic bedroom of a dilapidated — and supposedly haunted — Victorian country house, while the set is arranged so the stairs are flat and the floors seen on a single level. The characters are juxtaposed as they ascend and descend imaginary stairs to the different floors. "Ayckbourn is kind of the Monty Python of British theater," says Next Stage Repertory' Artistic Director Doug Warner. "The closest American version of the English playwright would be Neil Simon, just because of their ability to create humor from the lives of everyday people." Next Stage will present "Taking Steps" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Sept. 8-9, and 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, at the Craterian Theater, 23 S. Central Ave., Medford. Tickets are $18 and can be purchased online at craterian.org, at the box office, 16 S. Bartlett St., or by calling 541-779-3000. The peculiar characters — an unwitting solicitor's assistant, a contractor desperate to sell the old place, a blow-hard businessman and his frustrated ex-dancer wife, her narcolepsy-inducing brother and his girlfriend — collide when circumstances force them to spend the night in the old house. Elizabeth, played by Presila Quinby, is undecided about leaving her blowhard husband, Roland, played by Ric Hagerman. Her decision sets off much of the action. Peter Wickliffe plays Mark, Elizabeth's boring brother, who attempts to save his one-sided relationship with Kitty, played by Kelsey Tidball, and fulfill his dream of opening a fishing-tackle shop. Then there's Tristram, an inarticulate and unassertive solicitor's assistant, played by Max Gutfreund, and Leslie, the house's unscrupulous owner, played by Stephanie Jones. "They are real people, but given the circumstance and the twists in the story, they turn into archetypes," Warner says. "I see Ayckbourn lampooning them to exploit the comedy. Just like Monty Python skits, the characters are intelligent but goofy. "Elizabeth considers herself a serious dancer, but it turns out she is just a hack who performed in the background of some TV commercials," Warner says. "Her husband thinks of himself as a big shot, but he's got a serious drinking problem and tends to mix words when trying to make a point. Mark is the classic man who can't hear what Kitty is trying to tell him. He goes on about "our dream" — owning a fishing tackle shop and settling down — when she wants no part of living with a complete bore. He doesn't get it because he is so lost in his own head and constantly 'mansplains' to Kitty why she should want to be with him." British theater critic Michael Billington calls Ayckbourn "the poet laureate of missed connections." In this thoughtful, oddly amusing and biting play, Ayckbourn takes a look at how we fail to understand and trust lovers and friends. Though the characters are in close proximity, they rarely arrive at the same intellectual or emotional conclusions. "It also reminds us that farce at its very best is inescapably about something: in this case, women's hunger for freedom and the difficulties of rational communication," Billington writes in his review of "Taking Steps." The play also explores the metaphorical steps the characters must take to get on with their lives. The audience is interested because it wants to know whether Elizabeth will escape her unhappy marriage to Roland and whether Kitty will elude her sleep-inducing boyfriend's presence. "Taking Steps" premiered in 1979 at Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round in Scarborogh, England; in 1980 at Lyric Theatre in London; and 1991 at Circle in the Square Theatre in New York City. "This is a real story about real people that is complicated by miscommunication," Warner says. "What we have is a fast-paced farcical comedy that is as believable as it is absurd, but in the spirit of Carol Burnett or Monty Python, the audience buys into it. The actors work more like an ensemble comedy troupe. It's one big comedy skit." Warner designed sound and set for the production, Quinby is assistant director, and Brad Nelson is technical director and lighting designer.