Seniors, ever watch 20-somethings living it up while you struggle getting through the day? Ever envy them? Resent them? Both? Can’t make up your mind?
See Sam and Jeanne Bobrick’s “Weekend Comedy” at Edge. It’ll set you straight.
Grousing husband Frank (Rick Wright) and grouse-enduring wife Peggy (Melanie Calderwood), married 33 years, arrive at their getaway in the woods. Relaxation is on his mind. Romance is on hers. They squabble some before getting on the same page; which is to say, her page. Monkey business on the living room carpet is about to manifest when knock, knock. Who’s there?
Enter 20-something boyfriend-girlfriend, Tony and Jill (Edge newcomers Paul and Erica Bergman); a lovesick twosome living life in the fast lane. He makes a hundred thousand a year working for his millionaire father. She’s a model. Health food, physical fitness and the wherewithal to do what they want when they want, bond them like two peas in a pod. The world’s their oyster.
But uh-oh.
Same cabin, two couples, each promised privacy when they rented for the weekend. How embarrassing is that? Nothing like a little caught off guard to get the ball rolling, huh?
Both couples cruise past initial shock and disappointment but only to butt heads again and again over issues micro- and macroscopic. Most don’t amount to a hill of beans. Everything centers on: how to come to terms with life, love and marriage?
Wright registers ordinary, very ordinary, so ordinary he is exceptional. The guy’s a 51 year-old small businessman set in his ways, plodding along and about as interesting as a stick in the mud. Wright gets out the everyman that mirrors most male psyches hitting 50 with only a wife and grown kids to show for it. See him and see yourself. An achievement to shoot for? You decide.
Calderwood shines as the wife who stuck it out with the same man. She knows who she is and all there is to know about the balding, pot-bellied heap of insecurities she puts up with. Women, celebrate your savvy.
Erica and Paul Bergman, a couple on stage and off, add force and weight to roles that could easily have lapsed into the 20-somethings you have seen before. They take a while to catch fire, but not long. Can it be they drew from real life? See what you think.
This is comedy directed by Roger Kelley. It’s full of laughs and insight. You’ve seen things like it but not always as engaging. Recommended for couples that know what’s up. Suggested for couples that don’t. Either way, it’s a fun night out.
Reactions? Comments? E-mail Dale Burrows at grayghost7@comcast.net or entopinion@heraldnet.com.
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