For the Enterprise
Neil Simon has long been known for his running gags, but never more so than for the one in “Barefoot in the Park,” now playing at Edge of the World Theatre through Dec. 18, where every gasping character must climb six flights of stairs just to get on stage.
Paul and Corie Bratter are newlyweds. He is a brand-new attorney valiantly struggling to win his first case (for six cents). She is a free spirit that sees nothing wrong in renting a tiny one-room apartment at the top of a six-story building for their first domicile.
Unfortunately for everyone else, it has somehow skipped her notice that there is no elevator, and all visitors to their lofty new love nest (including her mother) must scale an endless mountain of stairs to reach them.
Some performers must scale the height more than once, and each arrival is a diverting variation, if not a topper, of the last.
The telephone installation man is gaspingly astonished but resigned to his fate. The delivery man just writhes in pain, drops his packages and oozes out without a word. Others come and go, closer to cardiac arrest each time.
The smasher’s the one in which the wheezing groom carries his barely functional mother-in-law up, and they both collapse like veterans of Iwo Jima.
This is one of many delightful artifices that serve as backdrop for Simon’s stuffy-groom-transformed-by-delightful-scatterbrained-bride fable. Another is the apartment itself — appallingly unfurnished and sporting a broken skylight that allows it to snow indoors.
“Barefoot in the Park” holds the record for the longest running comedy in modern Broadway history, with 1,530 performances over nearly four years.
“It’s our Christmas show this year,” says artistic director Michael Kelley. “Folks were telling us they were a little tired of the Scrooge thing, and could we please do something seasonal without dragging Tiny Tim onstage.
“So we’re trying this. It takes place in winter, close to Christmas. It’s tremendously funny and entertaining — we think it’ll be a nice diversion from all the ‘Christmas Carols’ out there.”
The cast features Christina Buchen, Melanie Calderwood, David Crawford, Brian Vyrostek, and Rick Wright. The show runs through Dec. 18, with performances at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. There are also four matinees on all Saturdays except opening weekend.
Tickets range from $17 to $20, and reservations and information are available by calling the Edge of the World box office at 206-542-PLAY (7529). The theatre is located at 9667 Firdale Ave. in south Edmonds, in the Firdale Shopping Center.
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