University of Virginia Library

STAGE

Players In 'Barefoot'; Song-And-Dance

Moore, Cupp, Tender in Barefoot: Defensive Kidding

BAREFOOT IN THE PARK By
Neil Simon. Directed by Ray
Royce. Set design by George Black.
Presented by The Virginia Players.
At Minor Hall through Saturday.

Anyone who has been
involved with learning the
give-and-take of a male/female
relationship should appreciate
seeing themselves in Neil
Simon's comedy, Barefoot In
The Park, at least once. For
those who haven't (or those
who want to again), The
Virginia Players offer the
opportunity nightly this week
through Saturday at Minor
Hall.

Generically a situation
comedy, the play is more than
the problems of a pair of
newlyweds. Neil Simon has the
rare ability to write about
us— the facades we put forth,
the pathos that is our matter of
course and the defensive
kidding around to which we
often resort–in situations,as
comedy to let us laugh at
ourselves. Because he wrote
this one (of his many plays) in
the early 60's, before a lot of
troublesome problems became
visible to us, that introduced a
seeming need for escape into
his later characters, Barefoot
In The Park has a light,
straight spirit.

For problems, Paul and
Corie Bratter— the
newlyweds–have a too-small
fifth floor fix-it-yourself
apartment in need of many
fixings, an old fashioned
mother-in-law in need of
company, an old but romantic
lecher upstairs in need of
anything, and (after two weeks
of marriage) their
not-understood selves in need
of each other.

Mick Tender plays the
Independent, self-assured
husband with a clear and
deliberate voice and style that
delivers both the comedy in
the lines and the reality of the
part. He is the play's prime
mover.

Sharing the central role of
the couple, Mary Moore as the
breathless, compulsive,
fun-loving wife Corie has two
difficult problems. First, the
script makes her the main
straight "man"–she has very
few funny lines of her own.
Second, she has a propensity to
deliver her lines upstage. She
overcomes the first problem by
playing a real enough part; but
her upstage projection, given
her breathy line delivery, is
often not strong enough to
carry well to the audience.

Corie's mother is played by
Debbie Cupp with consistent
reality and constant comedy.
Watching her work gives a
person a thrill in the funny
box.

Bill Castro, as the
pseudo-lecher upstairs, is
demonstrating his versatility
this summer. He is following a
good rendition of Bogart in
The Players' last presentation,
Play It Again, Sam with an
entirely different, but well
practiced character role here.
When he and the mother are
both onstage, the play
percolates.

David Tyler, as the
telephone repairman, and Jeff
Larsen, as the deliveryman,
both play convincing roles, but
they could do more to bring
out the humor in their
short-lived parts.

Ray Royce has directed a
well-paced play and demanded
an unobtrusive smoothness in
the technical crew. The sets
and lighting are visually
comfortable and surprisingly
open for the relatively small
stage at Minor Hall. But
anyone who sees the play
expecting a great number of
belly-laughs will be
disillusioned. Neil Simon
comedies have too much of the
real world in them for the
grossness of slapstick. Director
Royce has wisely stuck to the
script.

Barefoot In The Park
might well repeat the popular
success of Play It Again, Sam
as part the The Players'
Summer Festival of Comedies.
If so, it would mean full houses
for the entire run. As this is
not generally the rule for
summer plays at Minor Hall,
The Virginia Players should
earn–again–the congratulations
of an appreciative audience.

—Jim Noeldner