We didn’t wait until the invention of “chick lit” to have romantic workplace comedies. Take the Mint company’s “London Wall,” a chestnut from 1931: Affairs, female friendship, women wondering whether their dithering boyfriends will ever put a ring on it — this show has it all.
The catalyst here is a certain Mr. Brewer, a sexual-harassment suit waiting to happen. If there had been such a thing in 1930s England, that is.
Brewer (Stephen Plunkett) is a lawyer in a London firm located on the road of the title, and he has a habit of preying on fresh-faced arrivals.
“He’s the kind that hangs round pillar-boxes on the chance of a housemaid coming out to post a letter, and he’s got an idea he’s God’s gift to women,” says Blanche Janus (Julia Coffey), who, though she’s only 35, is the office’s den mother.
“You watch your step,” she adds for the benefit of Pat Milligan (Elise Kibler), an adorable new typist.
And indeed, Brewer — whom Plunkett plays like a grim, watchful barracuda — is on the hunt, plying Pat with the theater tickets she’s too poor to afford.
Will Miss Milligan give in to Brewer, or realize her true love is Hec Hammond (Christopher Sears), a high-spirited clerk working in the same building?
There isn’t much suspense about the answer, but the play — which is only now having its American premiere — is always entertaining. Playwright John Van Druten offers a delightful peek into office dynamics and is especially attuned to women’s concerns.
“He hasn’t had so much reason to be keen these last three years,” Miss Janus says bitterly of her longtime boyfriend. “He’d had all he wanted without marriage.”
Lines like these remind us why Van Druten used to be a household name — and is now having a moment, with forthcoming revivals of his hit “I Remember Mama” and “Cabaret,” based on the Van Druten play “I Am a Camera.”
Davis McCallum’s production is among the best in recent Mint memory, with a cast fully in sync with the play’s droll wit, especially Coffey’s Miss Janus, strong with a wistful edge of sadness. As head honcho Mr. Walker, Jonathan Hogan is a wonderful blend of crusty and paternal.
But McCallum’s greatest coup is to have found a pair of romantic leads who can anchor the show. Radiating unaffected charm, Kibler and Sears are the most winning ingenues we’ve seen in ages. And when was the last time you saw a rom-com couple you could truly root for?