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Peer Reviews Squabbles Reviewed by Craig Nolan Highley Entire contents are copyright © 2009, Craig Nolan Highley. All rights reserved.
If you've ever had in-laws, you can relate to the characters that populate Derby Dinner's latest production, Marshall Karp's uproarious comedy Squabbles. This is quite possibly the funniest production I've seen at the Playhouse, and that is saying something! The story concerns Jerry and Alice Sloan (Cary Wiger and Janet Essenpreis), a married couple who discover they are about to have their first child. This is complicated by the fact that Jerry's father Abe (J.R. Stuart) has recently had to move in with them to recuperate after a heart attack. Abe loves to argue, and absolutely despises Alice's mother Mildred (Rita Thomas). When Mildred's house burns to the ground, she also moves in with Jerry and Alice. This sets the scene for one bitter battle of wits and words after another that is so funny it is almost exhausting to watch.
The verbal sparring between Abe and Mildred drives the plot, and is so cleverly written I had to get the script afterwards just so I could relive it. It reminded me of some of the better quips you might have heard on The Golden Girls or Designing Women. The show is perfectly cast. Stuart and Thomas completely nail the bickering geriatrics, with Thomas pulling off a flawless New York accent to boot. Wiger and Essenpreis are suitably harried and long-suffering as the put-upon married couple, and David Myers is fun as Sol, Abe's neighborhood friend. Jennifer Lauletta makes a brief but memorable appearance near the end of the show as a no-nonsense nanny. The lighting design and costumes are more than serviceable, but the set is truly impressive. It's easily one of the largest sets I've seen at the Playhouse, which is impressive considering it's just an interior house setting that could easily have been done on the small and cheap. Overall, Squabbles is a smartly written, strongly acted and skillfully directed production. Considering the fact that a meal is included, this is an excellent idea for a date night!
Squabbles Starring Janet Essenpreis, Jennifer Lauletta,
David Myers, J.R. Stuart, Rita Thomas, and Cary
Wiger. Posted January 12, 2009
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