The actress Annette Miller has a history of playing formidable women on the stages at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox. We've seen her as the prime minister of Israel in Golda's Balcony, the fashion legend Diana Vreeland in Full Gallop, and as the outspoken Watergate wife in Martha Mitchell Calling. Now, in Charles Busch's The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (which ran on Broadway for 777 performances from 2000-2002), Miller plays a bookish housewife who yearns to be a woman of substance. As an upper-middle class, Upper West Side archetype who's forever schlepping to lectures at the 92nd Street Y and avant garde performances at BAM, she suffers for the art she wishes she could make herself. The role is a caricature of sorts—more a Roz ChastNew Yorker cartoon than a Gilda Radner parody—and Miller makes Marjorie Taub her own creation, proving once again that when she takes a stage she commands it. Miller is never out of sight for more than a few seconds, and we get to delight in her every double-take, gesticulation and expertly delivered zinger. Yes, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife is a bit of a sitcom—but a sharp, culturally astute sitcom like Maude or Golden Girls. Indeed, if the great casting agent in the sky had reshuffled the deck, Miller might have had the career and fame of a Bea Arthur. It's lucky for us that she has made Shakespeare & Company her summer home for more than a decade, giving Berkshire theatergoers a chance to watch her mature as an artist. Director Tony Simotes has paired her with a near-perfect cast. As her doting, too-nice husband, Malcolm Ingram is a wonderful comic foil. The banter between Miller and Joan Coombs as her kvetching mother reminded me of a great tennis match where both players rush the net. As her mysterious best friend, Jan Neuberger nails the role of the superficial Lee with convincing aplomb. And as the wide-eyed middle-eastern doorman, Mohammed, Jules Findlay holds his own with the manic Miller. The Tale of the Allergist's Wife pokes fun at the well-read bourgeoisie—the very folks who descend on the Berkshires each summer for music, dance, and theater—but it is an affectionate lampooning that touches a real nerve and exposes the fragility of our own humanity. It's an edgy feel-good comedy that makes you think and laugh a lot. —Dan ShawThe Tale of the Allergist's Wife at Shakespeare & CompanyElayne P. Bernstein Theatre 70 Kemble Road, Lenox, MA; 413.637.3353 Through September 1
