Theatre Works stages Female Odd Couple
by Robert Barossi
Theatre Works begins their season with a newer version of an old classic.
Neil Simon’s 1965 play, “The Odd Couple,” spawned a television series, spin-offs, sequels, revivals and even an animated series. Twenty years later, in 1985, Simon himself wrote a female version of the play.
In this twist, Felix and Oscar are turned into Florence Ungar and Olive Madison, the poker game becomes a game of Trivial Pursuit, and the Pigeon sisters of the original transform into the Costazuela brothers.
The basic story is the same, it centers around two divorced women who live together, but can’t stand each other’s habits. This all-female version originally starred Rita Moreno and Sally Struthers in the Madison/Unger roles and was heralded by some as a much-improved reworking of the original.
Simon noted at the time that he enjoyed writing women characters and wanted these two to be real women, not women behaving like men. Connie Anderson is the Treasurer and Executive Producer at Theatre Works. She says that the company did the original version several years ago, adding, “And we have been doing repeat shows almost every year. We are trying to break the mold this year with four new shows for our audiences.”
Other shows will include Steve Martin’s “The Underpants” and the Tennessee Williams’ classic, “The Glass Menagerie.” Before those shows, things kicks off with “The Odd Couple” and Anderson is not worried about beginning this season of new productions with such a familiar play.
She notes, “Simon wrote this one and it’s pretty much the same as the original script, except with a woman’s twist. But the premise of the show is, like I said, much the same. Even though it’s “the female version,” when you say “The Odd Couple,” everyone reacts favorably.” “The Odd Couple” is one of those shows that rests heavily on the two leads.
They must have just the right chemistry and rapport on stage. Talking about her two actresses, Anderson says, “The role of Florence Unger is played by Patricia Tulli-Hawkridge of Pawtucket and the role of Olive Madison is played by Karen Bessette DiOrio of Cumberland. This is their first time playing together and have settled in very nicely, working separately from the rest of the cast members prior to rehearsal time. They are working very hard, but having fun at the same time.”
Anderson adds that the rehearsal process “started out the schedule rehearsing separately, just the girls one night, and then one night with the Costazuela brothers and the two leads for the “date” scene. Now we are running the show.”
Along with the tried and trueformula of the play, Anderson believes that there are also some deeper themes to be found. She says they include, “Friendship, basically, through good times and bad,” adding, “Corny, but that’s basically it.”
When asked about what she thinks the audience’s reaction to this version of the play will be, she responds, “They’ll laugh a lot. And leave with a smile on their face.”
