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| 5/22/2009 1:06:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| The Odd Couple’s Felix (Eric Bunge) and Oscar (Hall Cropp) are having a squabble over Oscar’s sloppiness. The Odd Couple is showing at the Commonweal through October.
Photo submitted by Jason Underferth |
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The Odd Couple
By Bonnie Prinsen
The late astrologer, Linda Goodman, once wrote that to understand the relationship between an earthy, messy Taurus and a neat, obsessive Virgo, one only had to study the relationship between Oscar and Felix of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple.
As a Taurus who dated a couple of Virgos in my early years, I never had to wonder which of the Odd Couple was which. But Goodman also pointed out that, despite the fact that they may seem like opposites, a Taurus like Oscar and a Virgo like Felix can actually get along quite well. They grudgingly admire the traits in the other not found in themselves.
Even if astrology is not your bag, you've got a chance to study the odd pairing of Felix and Oscar in the Commonweal Theatre's new production of The Odd Couple in Lanesboro this summer.
Most audience members are familiar with the characters from the television series that aired originally from 1970-75, but continues to air on Nick At Night. Two recently divorced men decide to pool expenses by living together. Originally, Simon may have intended to highlight the fact that these two continued to have the same squabbles as they'd had in their marriages, but, at least in the way the television series evolved in the hands of veteran actors Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, the show became as much about how two people with very different approaches to housekeeping can manage to get along.
Acting veterans also play the leads in the Commonweal production. Eric Bunge, Managing Director, and Hal Cropp, Artistic Director, play Felix and Oscar respectively. And they seem to have a grand time with the broad, often physical humor.
Oscar is already divorced and adjusting to life in his lonely lair (an early version of the current "Man Cave.") He's a slob who thrives among clutter and aged food. His poker buddies (played by Damian Robinson, Scott Dixon, Troy Iverson and Jerome York) don't seem to mind the mess, but as they're all married men enjoying time away from the house, you get the feeling they don't really have a choice but to tolerate Oscar's mess.
Felix fails to show up for the poker game one evening and the group learns his wife has announced that she's divorcing him. Felix arrives in a suicidal state and the group's attempts to "save" him result in early hilarity in a play loaded with humor.
Felix truly has nowhere else to go, so the decision to move in with Oscar temporarily is a no-brainer. But it doesn't take long before Felix's compulsive cleanliness clashes with Oscar's rather casual approach to order.
In addition, there's a conflict brought on by the men's differing stages on the recently divorced scale of pain. Oscar has moved on to accept his position and is ready to go seek new adventures, specifically in the form of the attractive, single sisters who live upstairs in the building.
But Felix is wallowing in shock, denial, and despair and thus rains on Oscar's parade every time. To add insult to injury, Felix's "sensitive male" persona is attractive to the two women-something that baffles and confounds Oscar.
The play is a lot of fun and perfect, light summer fare.
Cropp looks like Oscar, particularly early on when he wears a baseball cap backwards. In addition, Cropp has the most convincing Bronx accent of the cast. He is able to adeptly run through Oscar's range of emotion-from glee to rage--during the course of the play.
Bunge has a feel for the nearly neurotic Felix and is able to convey the distraught state of a man whose neatly patterned life has been thrown out of whack.
To me, it seemed like Bunge could do even more to distinguish himself from the sloppy, but happy Oscar. Bunge's Felix appears physically and emotionally distraught in act one, which is understandable, but never quite recovers to be the precise neatnik we want him to be. He needs to be as repulsed and perplexed by Oscar's stubborn messiness as Oscar is by his obsessive fastidiousness.
Before seeing the preview, I predicted that Cropp would play Oscar and Bunge play Felix. I can't help but think it would have been interesting if they'd exchanged roles. I'm not sure of the relevance, or why I spend time thinking these things. But I'm just sayin'...
Completing the cast are Irene ErkenBrack and Stela Burdt as the lively Pigeon Sisters from upstairs. Their entrances were always greeted by giggles and grins from the audience.
The Odd Couple was directed by Peter Hackett, who admits in the liner notes to never having seen any version or adaptation of The Odd Couple before. His directing doesn't seem to have suffered for the lack-with Simon, what you see is what you get, right?-and a fresh approach may have been a good thing.
Set changes in the beautiful Commonweal performance space were part of the show, with cast members grooving to the Frank Sinatra soundtrack as they deftly moved furniture around. But I have to say, I kind of missed that Odd Couple theme song.
You have through October to catch the Commonweal's Odd Couple. Call the box office for specific showtimes (1-800-657-7025) or check the website www.commonwealtheatre.org.
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