The Odd Couple is a comedy by Neil Simon’s about two very different men, who somehow manage to be best friends. After Felix’s marriage ends, he moves into Oscar’s post-divorce disaster of an apartment. Their living arrangement highlights their opposite habits and personalities, and the situation is hilarious to observe.
I've always been a fan of the OBT and this was my first time coming to their location at the Alliance Theater at Trolley Square. Tonight was my first time seeing any production of The Odd Couple. With the theatre being a black box, there were some challenges that the show had to face. The team made the space work beautifully within what the script needed them to do.
Direction:
Chris Kennedy scored a win with his directing. The script has great jokes throughout the entire script. Kennedy made sure he had the actors play on each joke in a way that had the audience laughing through the entire performance. During Act 1 Kennedy had the actors clean up a spill with pants, which further helped show how dirty the apartment was. One of my favorite moments was when Felix gets angry and tries to throw a cup. Instead of throwing the cup, he breathes, and made sure to put the cup on a coaster. It was such a funny choice that fit within the realm of who that character was. By the time Act 3 hits, Kennedy had set up with his direction a beautiful comedic silent scene, that had been building since Act 1. Kennedy was thoughtful with what accents he had each of his actors perform. It helped set the setting that they were in a New York apartment.
Performances:
The comedic duo of Oscar and Felix were played by Rusty Bringhurst (Oscar) and Patrick Harris (Felix). The two of them played off each other beautifully. Both actors with their choices were set up where the two were stark opposites of each other. Bringhurst played his character tense and angry, while Harris played his character sweaty, anxious, and quite OCD. Harris played his character well enough that everything that was said about his character was well established in his acting choices.
Murray was played by Adam Frary. Playing a cop, he could have taken his character choices many ways. He stuck to the classic New York cop, which was a delightful choice. His facial expressions during the show were hilarious and helped tell the story in a different way.
Speed was played by Shea Potter. Speed is such a small part, but Potter made it shine. He had strong choices that were believable and fun to watch. Potter's nervousness of his character added a great comedic moment. My favorite line of the night came from him.
Design:
The set and props were designed by Eric Jensen, Emily Mouritsen, and Chris Kennedy. The set is set up with three flats. (two of them flip to another side later in the show) The set starts as a dirty, cluttered, apartment and later gets changed into a clean and organized space when Felix moves in. From the batten is an older looking light fixture that hangs over the table in the apartment. I found out from the director before the show started that Eric Jensen made the fixture out of salad bowls. This idea delighted my craft heart, being someone that took a personal prop class from Jensen 8 years ago. The props in the show were very fitting for the time period and made sense for the apartment they lived in. My favorite prop of the night was an umbrella that is revealed in Act 3 to be broken. It was such a small detail that added to the humor of the show.
The costumers for the show were Eric Jensen, Sandy ThuyAnn Jensen, and Stacee Hunsaker. The team choice costumes that made sense for the time period. The cast of the whole looked like they fit together with the design of the costumes that were chosen. My favorite costume choice was for the Pigeon sisters during act two. Their costumes had an inverse of colors from each other, that immediately helped signal that the two of them were sisters.
Hiccups:
There was one main distraction that pulled me out of the show- not to the fault of the actors or the production team. There was a car show that was happening outside of the theater. In the middle of Act 2 the revving of engines could be heard- quite clearly.
Final Impressions:
This production team should be quite proud of the production they were able to put on with the limitations that they had. It was well put together and a wonderful way to spend my evening. If you are looking for some laughs, hit up the OBT and go see their production of The Odd Couple.
Tickets
(Photo courtesy of the OBT)
Comments
Post a Comment