Squabbles
Written by Marshall Karp
Directed by Paul Barile
James Downing Thtr, 6740 N. Oliphant (map)
thru Oct 28 | tickets: $13-$20 | more info
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A slow-developing comedy with fun characters
James Downing Theatre presents
Squabbles
Review by Keith Glab
The James Downing Theatre presents Squabbles, a play in which in-laws move in with a married couple and constantly bicker. No, it’s not another horror show for the Halloween season; this one’s a comedy.
At lights up, the widowed Abe Dreyfus (Manny Schenk) has already been living with his daughter Alice (Valerie Querns) and her husband Jerry (Joe Bonadonna) for awhile. There’s some tension with this living arrangement, but it’s nothing compared to what ignites once Jerry’s separated mother (Julie Mitre) moves in as well. The two parents clash, and the young Sloan couple is caught perilously between them like Argonauts. They also have a baby on the way, and resolve to remedy this living situation prior to the birth.
From there, the story unfolds exactly as you would predict. Don’t lay all of the blame on Marshall Karp’s formulaic script, however; the show’s paced like a drama rather than a comedy. Too often, the cast waits for one of the other actors to finish their line, pause, then deliver their own. In comedies, the lines need to be delivered quickly, because if the audience figures out the punch line before the actor delivers it, most of the humor is lost. In a comedy about arguments, the dialogue should even overlap, and that almost never happens here. Ten minutes could easily be cut from the run time without any changes to the script, and the performance would crackle along with far more energy and less predictability.
While much of the script’s laugh potential gets lost in the pacing, a good chunk still remains. Manny Schenk creates a very distinctively eccentric Abe Dreyfus, and this performance charges the humor for the entire show. In my absolute favorite moment, the Sloans are role-playing, and Bonadonna turns in a terrific mimicry of his character’s Father-in-law, naturally with Dreyfus overhearing. You’ve seen this formula used a dozen times before in TV sitcoms, but when it’s done well, it still works. Here, the gag is made possible by Schenk’s strong character, allowing Bonadonna to play off something concrete.
The supporting cast does a good job of fleshing out memorable characters in minimal time onstage. Stephen A. Salemi crafts some of the play’s funniest moments as Hector the gardener, although his accent slips from Puerto Rican to Romanian at times. Mr. Wasserman is a nice foil to Schenk’s gregarious Abe Dreyfus, as Mark L. Kroon plays his humor in an understated way. Leah Cozad (Mrs. Fisher) is a nanny who acts as though she received her job training from Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The set is functional, aesthetically pleasing, and successfully reveals an early 80’s timeframe. Yet, since the James Downing Theatre house is not on a rake, and so much of the play’s action takes place seated, sightlines are problematic for audience members not seated in the first two rows. Awkwardly, several lengthy blackouts between scene changes were not covered by music.
Abe Dreyfus delivers a concluding monologue overtly gearing Squabbles towards an older audience. Despite its shortcomings, this production has a good deal of fun and charm to offer, particularly for that demographic.
Rating: ★★½
Squabbles continues through October 28th at The James Downing Theatre, 6740 N. Oliphant (map), with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays 1:30pm. Tickets are $13-$20, and are available online at BrownPaperTickets.com. More information at JamesDowningTheatre.typepad.com. (Running time: 2 hours, includes an intermission)
Photos by Anne Lunde
artists
cast
Manny Schenk (Abe Dreyfus), Julie Mitre (Mildred Sloan), Joe Bonadonna (Jerry Sloan), Valerie Querns (Alice Sloan), Stephen A. Salemi (Hector), Mark L. Kroon (Mr. Wasserman), Leah Cozad (Ms. Fisher), Jonathan Sloan (Johnny Boy)
behind the scenes
Paul Barile (director); Erik Martin (asst. director); Steve Kedzierski (producer, tech director); Mary Schenk (producer, asst. tech director); Mary Hodur (production stage manager); Anne Lunde (photos)
12-1040
