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Directed by Kevin Parker
The Production Team
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Rehearsal
pictures
The Odd Couple – Female Version
A comedy about mismatched
roommates
- from the feminine point of
view!
Neil Simon's gender-switch
rewrite, which premiered on Broadway in 1985 (twenty years after the original),
outclasses the old script in many ways. Some improvements result
from the editing that would happen with any revision; however, the most
effective changes can be ascribed to his reworking the script for women.
Simon has more fully developed the characters of the mismatched pair,
while retaining the key to the play's humour. The female version provides a
more balanced portrayal of two strong women with reasons for how they act.
Whereas Oscar simply describes his sloppiness, Olive justifies hers: "My
mind is into other things." Their former spouses were not perfect, either;
"I'm married to a five foot three inch man with an oversized toupee and
boots up to his knees who walks around saying 'Da',"
Simon has also overhauled the play's secondary characters. The poker
players exist mainly to give Felix and Oscar someone to annoy, while in the
group scenes in the female version took pains to establish the personalities of
their friends as well. For them, playing the game – now Trivial Pursuit - is
secondary to relaxing, talking, and spending time together on their weekly
night out.
Pulling the very-ready Olive and the always reticent and hypochondriac
The action takes place in Olive’s apartment in
ACT 1
Scene 1 A
Hot Summers Night
ACT 2
Scene 1 Two
Weeks Later At About
Scene 2 A
Few Days Later – Early Evening
There will be one interval of 20 minutes between the Acts, when you can
enjoy refreshments from the bar
Produced by
special arrangement with Samuel French Ltd.
Neil Simon is the world’s most successful playwright.
He has had dozens of plays and nearly as many major motion pictures produced. He has been
showered with more Academy and Tony nominations than any other writer, and is
the only playwright to have four Broadway productions running simultaneously.
Born in the
Simon’s brother, Danny, played a role in his writing.
It was Danny who provided the inspiration for one of his most enduring hits.
After his divorce, Danny moved in with another divorced man, and this situation
became the set-up for "The Odd Couple" (1966). Starring Jack Lemon
and Walter Mathau, the 1968 film version was equally
successful and prompted a popular television series.
By 1973, Simon was a major voice in comedy. But, that year he entered a
low period in his life, when his wife of 20 years, died. Some time later, he
met actress Marsha Mason, and they were married. His 1977 play, Chapter Two,
dramatizes the grief of a newly remarried man trying to start over after his
wife has died.
Throughout his career, Simon has drawn extensively on his own life and
experience for his plays. Many take place in the working-class
Neil Simon has for forty years invigorated the stage with touching
stories and zany characters, but possibly his greatest contribution has been
the ability to create humor from the lives and
troubles of everyday people. Of Simon, actor Jack Lemon said, "Neil has
the ability to write characters -- even the leading characters that we’re
supposed to root for -- that are absolutely flawed. They have foibles. They
have faults. But, they are human beings. They are not all bad or all good; they
are people we know."
The Odd Couple reviewed... (Painswick Beacon, June 2005)
The last few issues of the
Beacon had, under the inimitable pen of Jack Burgess, whetted our appetites for
the forthcoming production by the Painswick Players.
On Saturday evening 30th
April, a full house was eagerly awaiting curtain up which, without anyone
really noticing, happened ten minutes early, revealing a very dimly lit set
dressed in a most cluttered manner. This got us all speculating, but before we
had time to work it out...blackout... then full lighting to reveal a very
animated game of Trivial Pursuits The pace was terrific from the start and our
attention was immediate. But what language were they speaking? Suddenly it
dawned:
The pace never slackened, the
movements were so natural and accents and clarity of articulation could not be
faulted. Rehearsals had obviously gone
well and the members of the cast were a perfect team really enjoying
themselves, supported by a very efficient stage and lighting crew and
production staff. The set transformation for the second act was splendid.
Direction by Kevin Parker was superb.
Special mention must be given
to Lesley Wolowiec and Jean Burgess for their portrayal of Olive and
The arrival of the Spanish
brothers, Manolo and Jesus (Mike Jackson and Jack
Burgess), in the second act brought the house down. They were so funny and
played with such expert timing and professionalism, we couldn’t stop laughing,
(incidentally, where did you get those wigs?)
I was a little worried because the play had been so perfect in every way
and this, in my experience, has never seemed quite right. Something really
ought to go wrong! Then, towards the end, Manolo
dropped that lovely spoonerism concerning “Flo’s
Clothes” and proved that the cast were mortals like the rest of us!
Altogether it was a most
successful production and I can honestly say that, with well over fifty years
of participating in all aspects of amateur dramatics, I have never seen a play
so obviously well prepared, so well produced and directed and so much enjoyed
by both cast and audience. A truly delightful and memorable evening.
Congratulations to you all. We can’t wait for the next one!
Derek Hodges