Not Much Fun, a musical based on the short stories of Dorothy Parker, displays a good deal of theatrical talent. Darin Goulet '97 has come up with a viable dramatic structure for some unlikely material, arranging Parker's stories in a revue format that preserves their brief, self-contained style. But communicating the emotional content of Parker's work is a greater challenge, one which the performances at Agassiz Theater last weekend did not quite live up to. The fierce irony and underlying pain of Parker's stories were often lost in this production, which tried too hard to show the audience a good time.

The entire production was a bit too cheery for the source material, stories that critique society, relationships, wealth and pretentiousness. Not Much Fun is too kindhearted to fully recreate the sparkling wit and bitter undertones which make Parker's stories so memorable. Instead of allowing the lines in each scene to build up toward a devastatingly ironic conclusion, the show went for more regular laughs. In most scenes, this broader comic approach didn't seem to ring true with the sharp and often sarcastic dialogue.

But the production still provided many amusing moments. One number, "The Waltz," worked particularly well, telling the story of a woman (Megan Uebelacker) who wishes she didn't have to dance with a particular suitor (Evan Sicuranza). As the music plays and couples swirl around the dance floor, the man repeatedly steps on her toes, and she denies any pain and takes all the blame. Uebelacker's asides to the audience are funny, but eventually it becomes clear that she is stuck in a courtship ritual and simply unable to breach the laws of a too-polite so ciety.

Goulet's original songs are all enjoyable, and there is a pleasantly subversive contrast between the jaunty, 1920s style music and ironic lyrics. Some of the tunes borrow from Parker's poetry, which works surprisingly well in songs like "Poets Alone Should Kiss and Tell" and "Sunshine." The ensemble song "Men (I'm Not Married To)" also turns a sardonic concept into a buoyant musical number. But cast members often had to struggle to be heard over the accompanying band, so that in many cases the music was heard but the words were muffled.

The cast was proficient but encountered the same dilemma as the production as a whole. Trying to keep the audience chuckling throughout, cast members delivered their lines with surplus energy and enthusiasm. As a result, the humor was a bit forced at times, and the sense of suffering which emerges in Parker's stories was lost. Although the actors made their characters pleasant and witty company for the evening, they all ended up seeming two-dimensional. Some of the cast members had their best and most believable moments when their characters were drunk, a condition that invites broader and more slapstick humor. Shar VanBoskirk '97 was hilarious as Lily Wynton, an aging movie star who likes brandy after breakfast.

Everyone involved in Not Much Fun should be commended for taking Parker's work seriously. Despite the stories' genuine wit and highly-charged emotional undertones, they could easily be used to mock the culture of the 1920s.