Five Women Full of Laughter and Insight

By Meghan D'Souza
Photo by Rob Merritt

TCR - If you're a lady, you've shared a night in with your girlfriends, gossiping about people you know, airing out your past and venting your frustrations. These nights in are always peppered with silliness and end with inside jokes and memories that last a lifetime. If you're a gentleman, you've likely wondered what it'd be like to be a fly on the wall when we ladies get together and let it all hang out.

Theatre Cedar Rapids invites you to be that fly as five bridesmaids escape to a bedroom for a breather during their friend's wedding reception in Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. Director Angie Toomsen and her cast do an outstanding job of bringing this tale to life and taking the audience through a range of emotions through the course of the night. The transitions from high moods to intense low moods, the comedic timing, and the chemistry between characters is all very smooth, keeping the audience engaged throughout the entire show.

Pulling off a show that continuously captures an audience can be challenging with a space as intimate as the Grandon Studio. The set remained the same through the performance; the ladies stayed in a well-decorated pink bedroom and used the space effectively. The bed was piled high with pillows and stuffed animals, the vanity had two mirrors and make-up, stage left contained two chairs by a small table for the ladies and, most cleverly, a window seat stood down stage on stage right to help separate the audience from the characters. With so many props, the activity on stage was never stagnant.

The whole team of actors kept the play engaging, interacting well with one another, whether they were speaking or in the background. All are strong actors, however, K. Lindsay Eaves and Lindsay Prince stood out the most with their abilities to charm the audience and capture the full realm of their characters. Trisha (Eaves) was the lady every friend felt she could talk to about anything, yet she struggled with who she was. Eaves used warm, open body language to really capture the essence of Trisha. Georgeanne (Prince) offered the most comic relief as a love-scorned woman drinking her angst away as the night went on. Her facial expressions, comedic timing, and ability to react as well as she acted made her captivating.

A show about five women may sound like it is intended for a female audience, but I assure you this play is for all adults. By the time you leave, you will feel like you had a great night out with friends. It's a night full of laughter and insight.

Five Women Wearing the Same Dress runs through May 5, 7:30 Thursdays through Saturdays, 2:00 Sundays in the Grandon Studio at TCR. Tickets are $20/$17.50 ($15 for youth).