Hopefully not the final chapter

by Brad Quinn

ICCT - Although Neil Simon can pretty much be depended on for a laugh, this may be one of his more weighty offerings. I knew very little about this show going into it, but knowing Neil Simon in general I had some idea of what to expect. In many ways, I was wrong.

When the subject matter is divorce, adultery, and the death of a spouse, you can be assured that it’s not going to be all fun and games. So those of you looking for nothing but a laugh, this show may not be for you.

However, there is a lot to recommend this script for those of you who are looking for some depth to your comedy. Maybe it is hard to imagine a comedy which is anchored by death and marital strife, but Simon pulls it off with his usual flair. All that is needed is the right people to bring it to life.

Does ICCT’s presentation of Chapter Two achieve this? Yes…and no. I can say with certainty that the opening night show which I saw was absolutely crisp and the cast was firing on all cylinders. Unfortunately, the only real problem with that is that the supporting cast actually outshines the leads.

Without a doubt, Ken Van Egdon steals this show away from the rest of the cast, playing the part of Leo Schneider, the younger brother to the play’s romantic lead. Granted, with only four people in the cast this is not as hard to do, but his stage presence and comic timing set a standard that the rest have difficulty achieving. And just when you think his character is nothing but a comic foil, Van Egdon manages to reach deep and pull some real feeling out of a particularly emotional scene in the second act.

Robyn McCright also more than pulls her weight as Faye Medwick, best friend to the play’s female lead character. I have had the pleasure of seeing Ms. McCright in a number of other performances, and this one is truly her best yet. And it is a brave as well as comic performance…she performs one scene dressed in a flimsy negligee and another in nothing but a sheet. Other actresses might flinch from this but she charges at it straight ahead. Her scene with Van Egdon in the second act is probably the highlight of the show.

The two leads were played by David Pierce, as George Schneider, and newcomer Caroline Sheerin as Jennie Malone. It is to be hoped that Ms. Sheerin continues to pursue the theater now that she has returned to the stage after being absent since high school, as she shows a great deal of promise. Unfortunately, where this show really suffers is the lack of chemistry between the two romantic leads.

Pierce in particular seems out of place as George. Not that he doesn’t have the tools of a comic actor, but he is about 10 years too old for the part and seems a bit more milquetoast than the part would call for. The two together have no spark, and this becomes quite evident when they kiss onstage for the first time. It is difficult to play romance on the stage, but the challenge of such stage romances is that you really only have a very short amount of time to establish the relationship as legitimate in the audience’s eyes and you have to make use of every moment.

The story relies on this relationship to make it work. George is a writer who has recently lost his wife to an unnamed illness, and Jennie is an actress who has just been divorced. Neither is eager to start a new relationship, but through the machinations of brother Leo and friend Faye (and a happy accident) George and Jennie meet and begin a whirlwind romance that neither is particularly equipped for. The first act of the show details the background of these characters, including Leo and Faye, and is generally light-hearted and fun. The accidental first meeting between George and Jennie is particularly well written. However, the second act is much heavier on the drama and emotion and is more difficult for the audience to get in to (although not unrewarding for those who stay with it). There is also a subplot which, while in some ways seemingly unnecessary, actually threatens to become more interesting than the main plot.

At the end of it all, though, I do think the audience was well satisfied and got their evening’s entertainment out of it. Not only was the cast on fire for opening night, special mention has to be made for the set, beautifully constructed by Rich Riggleman. Riggleman is a veteran who has built many fine sets over the years for various local productions, but this one may be his finest. The set consists of two apartments side by side, and it was designed in such a way to allow them to share the same stage but be completely distinguishable from each other. Aiding in this endeavor is an apt lighting design by Andrew Couch. Each apartment has its own hallway lighting and interior lighting that are independent of each other and allow the audience to truly feel that they are separate spaces despite having no real boundaries between them.

There is the possibility that this show may be the last performance ICCT ever gives. I certainly hope that is not the case and that they rescue themselves from the financial trouble they find themselves in. If this does end up being their last show, it is certainly not an unworthy one. And I would recommend for anyone reading this to go see the show and enjoy it for what it is. For it may not be perfect, but it is still a fine evening’s entertainment.