“LOW PAY? DON’T PAY!”: Performances are underway for “Low Pay? Don’t Pay!” Directed by Elena Milliken, the play runs through October 8 at the Hamilton Murray Theater. Above, from left: Fed up with exorbitant grocery prices, Margherita (Gabe Robare) and Antonia (Sophia Vernon) commit a theft that they must conceal, not only from the police, but from Antonia’s husband Giovanni (Tate Keuler). (Photo by Rilla McKeegan)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

The farce Low Pay? Don’t Pay! follows two women who become fed up with increasingly exorbitant food prices. The play’s action begins when they take matters — specifically, armfuls of groceries — into their own hands, and leave a store without paying.

A Google search for “high grocery prices” yields an abundance of articles, from a variety of sources, published within the past few months. Given the painful topicality of the subject matter, casual audiences might think that the play is recent.

In fact, it originally premiered in 1974 (at the Palazzina Liberty in Milan), under the title Sotto Paga? Non si paga? It is written by Dario Fo (1926-2016), a theatermaker and activist who received the 1997 Nobel Prize in literature. Lino Pertile published the first English translation in 1975, under the title Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay!

A more recent translation by Joseph Farrell — Low Pay? Don’t Pay! — opened in 2010 at the Salisbury Playhouse. There are several references to financial news of the 2000s. Farrell notes in a preface to his script that events such as the banking crisis have “given the play a new relevance, and Fo rewrote the script.”

Princeton University’s Theatre Intime is opening its season with Farrell’s translation of Low Pay? Don’t Pay! Elena Milliken directs, using all of the space that the Hamilton Murray Theater offers to stage the frenetic chaos that ensues in many scenes. The actors often are in the aisles as well as onstage.

The script somewhat resembles an extended episode of a sitcom such as I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners, albeit with a resolutely political bent. The action is instigated by a pair of housewives, and much of the comedy lies in the bewilderment of their husbands, who then exacerbate the situation by perpetrating their own schemes.

Frustration at impossibly high grocery prices has led to mass theft at stores. Among the shoplifters are the feisty Antonia (portrayed by Sophia Vernon, in a standout performance) and the more temperate Margherita (Gabe Robare). The two women participate in the theft partly to survive; but especially for Antonia, it also is a matter of taking a stand against an unjust, greedy system.

To her fiery, charismatic performance as Antonia, Vernon brings clipped, assertive line delivery and decisive body language. These are crucial ingredients for a character who spends the play convincing other characters to go along with her plans, and convincing them that ridiculously false statements are plausible.

The women bring armloads of stolen items — some of which they have taken at random, without looking to see what they are — back to Antonia’s place. Almost immediately a threat is established: in an effort to round up as many shoplifters as possible, the police are conducting door-to-door searches.

Antonia also is anxious to conceal the theft from her husband, Giovanni (infused with authoritative intensity by Tate Keuler). A worker who is loyal to the New Labour party, Giovanni — despite the couple’s poverty — is straight-laced, and pontificates about (among other things) his determination to live honestly, and in accordance with the law.

Antonia desperately attempts to convince Giovanni that she plans to cook with some of the hastily-grabbed items, which include a can of pet food. (Vocal humor stems from more than one character imitating animal sounds.)

Frantically, the women shove much of their contraband under Antonia’s sofa. Antonia asks Margherita to take some of the items with her. She complies, hastily stuffing them under her clothes. In a scene in which Antonia and Margherita desperately are trying to avoid having their deception (literally) uncovered, Robare imbues Margherita with some notable facial expressions that mix panic with amusement.

Antonia and Giovanni’s home soon is visited by two policemen. The first is a quasi-sympathetic Sergeant who professes to object to injustice as much as Antonia does, and performs a rather cursory inspection. The second is a gruff Inspector whose search is more determinedly thorough.

Both officers are portrayed by Jack Thompson, who has been cast as Everything Man. Thompson brings sufficient versatility to the role, which also entails playing characters such as an Undertaker and an Old Man who we learn is another character’s father.

The outfits by Costume Designer Layla Williams are in line with the Concord Theatricals website’s suggestion of “contemporary costumes/street clothes.” Thompson is given a dark blue jacket, to suggest a police officer’s uniform.

Continuing to hide the stolen food eventually entails pretending that Margherita is pregnant. This is complicated by the arrival of Margherita’s (initially) guileless husband, Luigi (played by Aatmik Gupta, who underlines the character’s sincerity and bemusement).

The second act manages to top the first in its depiction of absurd, madcap antics, with Antonia introducing discussions of religious rituals and the supernatural into her schemes. It is this latter half that makes particular use of the talents of Lighting Designer Le’Naya Wilkerson and Sound Designer John Wallar.

Milliken observes in a program note, “Fo presents a critique of moderatism and economic individualism centering personal experiences first. His words were so powerful in 1974, that two weeks after the show first opened, people began following Antonia’s lead and setting their own prices for groceries. This led to protests in the streets of Milan,” with protestors “yelling ‘Non Si Paga! Non Si Paga!’”

The play’s cultural significance does not belie a challenge that it poses to those who perform it. As noted above, the piece has the feel of a sitcom. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. It is advantageous because it allows the audience to contemplate sociopolitical issues via an outlet that is accessible and entertaining.

It also is a disadvantage, because we get a sense of what an I Love Lucy episode might look like if it was inflated to two hours instead of 30 minutes. In many cases it probably would start to fall apart, because the audience would have too much time to start thinking about the implausibility of what they are watching.

Timing and suspension of disbelief matter in most genres — especially comedy — but particularly when characters incessantly believe the improbable. It behooves the production to maintain the audience’s suspension of disbelief. Fortunately, Theatre Intime evinces awareness of this.

Masi Nagdee’s set acknowledges the unabashedly theatrical artifice inherent in the piece. Antonia and Giovanni’s kitchen is rather elaborate; but we can see the strings that hang a window, and an item that is stuffed into a wardrobe is visible even after the door is closed.

Milliken’s staging and the actors’ energetic performances are sufficiently nimble to lend credibility to a scene in which characters fail to notice groceries that are visible under the couch. In general, Miliken and the actors ensure that we are swept up in the moment by keeping the pacing swift. Judging by the reactions of many in the Hamilton Murray audience, they succeed.

Audiences who prefer more serious drama (or a less slapstick brand of comedy) may find Low Pay? Don’t Pay! a bit over the top, despite the seriousness of the issues that it aims to discuss. But those (including this writer) who enjoy farce likely will be entertained by the depiction of madcap events.

In Theatre Intime’s presentation of a comedy about theft, the sheer energy of the actors — along with the fun that they are having with the piece — steals the show.

“Low Pay? Don’t Pay!” will play at the Hamilton Murray Theater in Murray Dodge Hall, Princeton University, through October 8. For tickets, show times, and further information, visit theatreintime.org.