Edmonds troupe makes ‘Barefoot’ fresh again

EDMONDS – Barefoot in the park at the edge of the world – sounds exciting, doesn’t it? It is.

If you’ve ever been to the Edge of the World Theatre you know there’s not a bad seat in the house. So it was on Friday when we were transported back to 1960s New York, courtesy of Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park.” Corie Bratter, a bride of six days, was putting the final touches on painting the walls of her apartment. The room was sparse – the furniture had not yet arrived. A lone trunk in the middle of the stage was the focus of the first act.

Christina Buchen is delightful as Corie. You can feel her excitement at moving into her first apartment as she darts back and forth across the stage. She’s bubbly, enthusiastic and energetic, and we began to feel that first-apartment thrill ourselves.

The doorbell rings – for the first time ever! How exciting! It’s the telephone man, Harry Pepper. Corie opens the door to welcome him and he falls in the apartment, exhausted from the climb – six floors, or do you count the stoop too?

Rick Wright is hilarious as the telephone man. He’s so convincing I was glad I knew CPR, just in case.

In a matter of minutes Corie’s cutest-ever princess phone is installed and the number activated – Eldorado 58191 – what a great number! Corie places a call to test it – and it works! Her very first call reveals it’s going to snow tonight!

While the phone guy is recuperating, the doorbell rings again. The furniture? No, a department store delivery man. The next poor victim of the six flights of stairs falls into the apartment. Alan Smithee has no lines – too out of breath to speak – but he and the phone guy exchange a look that’s hilarious. Both play their parts to the hilt.

The men leave and we’re hoping the next ring of the doorbell is the furniture, but it’s Paul, Corie’s new husband. Paul is going to love the apartment anyway, isn’t he, even if there’s nowhere to sit?

Paul trudges in with his briefcase and a suitcase and, looking around futilely for a sofa or chair, flops down on the trunk. Corie is oblivious to his condition and keeps prancing around the apartment.

When he recovers, Paul reveals he’s never seen this apartment before – and why is it so cold? (There’s a hole in the roof, we discover.) Also, there’s no tub (he loves a soak).

David Crawford is a handsome young man and plays Paul superbly. He’s a neat freak who keeps his neckties flat between heavy books. You can feel his frustration increasing with Corie. Her energy is really beginning to irritate him – and us too.

There’s the doorbell again – the furniture? No, it’s Corie’s mother, Ethel (the delightful Melanie Calderwood). Corie’s exuberance changes to fear: Her mother won’t like the apartment.

Poor Ethel, bless her heart, tries to like it, despite the climb. Surely with a new coat of paint … ? This is a new coat of paint. What does the rest of the place look like? This is it.

Exit Ethel.

Enter neighbor Victor Velasco, a charismatic, eccentric, flirtatious character from Eastern Europe, played with a flourish by Brian Vyrostek. With a spring in his step, he’s gregarious and full of life.

Victor explains the peculiarities of the apartment to the newlyweds and they make plans to meet for dinner the next day. Then he leaves for his upstairs apartment – through the Bratters’ bedroom window.

When the second act opens, the furniture has finally arrived, along with the bar set. Corie is mixing martinis (with some audience participation as to the proportions).

Ethel arrives to find out her daughter has set her up with Victor. The foursome leaves for an Albanian restaurant on Staten Island. Upon their return, Victor and Corie are animated and inebriated; Paul and Ethel are just inebriated.

Neil Simon’s work is always marvelous, and in the hands of these wonderful actors it shines. After regaining her breath, Ethel remarks that she feels like she’s died and gone to heaven – only she had to climb up. Paul says his teeth feel soft.

Victor insists on escorting Ethel back to New Jersey and they leave, giving Corie and Paul room to argue: He’s a stick in the mud that won’t even walk barefoot in the park (in February). She’s insincere, superficial and annoying. He’s too dull. She’s too much of a free spirit.

The divorce is worked out.

Eventually, of course, it all works out. Anyone of a certain age knows this story. But the Edge of the World cast makes it fresh again, and so much better than if your only previous experience with the story was the Jane Fonda-Robert Redford movie.

Because here you are with these talented, funny people – so close you could administer CPR if need be.

Review

“Barefoot in the Park”: Neil Simon’s comedy, 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. Sundays, through Dec. 18, $17 to $20. Edge of the World Theatre, 9667 Firdale Ave., Edmonds; 206-542-7529.

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