OMG...What a treat! A treat on two levels. Playcrafters’ current production of Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys, directed by Jane Watson, is tantamount to an ooey-gooey Whitey’s hot fudge sundae. Level One is the ice cream foundation of Simon’s brilliant, tightly written script and Level Two is the hot fudge dazzling team of Pat Flaherty and Kendall Burnett as Willie Clark and Al Lewis. The result is a heavenly theatrical dessert well worth the comic calories. At its 1972 Broadway premier, critic Clive Barnes opined that The Sunshine Boys “is probably Mr. Simon’s best play yet.”
Simon had an uber prolific career which encompassed stage, screen and television. In fact, he had so many irons in the fire that in 1966 he had four successful productions on Broadway playing at the same time and by 1969 was making $45,000 a week.
Born into a dysfunctional Jewish family during The Great Depression, he had an unhappy, financially precarious childhood which resulted in his parents’ volatile marriage from which he sought escape through movies, predominantly the comic films of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy, which inspired him to want to make people laugh to mitigate the pain in their lives and this script is a perfect example.
The plot revolves around Willie and Al, two vaudeville comics whose 43 year partnership ended bitterly 11 years prior. Willie is an old curmudgeon holed up in a seedy hotel apartment who continues to believe that he can still work in show business, refuses to accept his dwindling ability to perform, and is adamant in his hatred for his old partner. Al is no less irascible but is far more jovial and accepting of retirement. Willie’s nephew, Ben, is a talent agent who Willie constantly pressures to find work for him. Television network CBS is planning a special program highlighting the history of comedy and contacts Ben to get him to try to reunite the vaudeville team of Lewis and Clark to appear on the show and perform their most well-known sketch. Suffice it to say the reluctant reunion proceeds down a rocky road of revelry as the old “frenemies” attempt to revive their act one more time.
This show is superbly performed on a well-designed by Skip Greer set, is tight and well-paced, and accomplishes a mammoth scene change in Act II with remarkable speed.
Supporting Flaherty’s and Burnett’s epic performances is Tim Burrow as nephew, Ben. This is his third appearance in Playcrafters’ current season and with each foray on the boards proves his prodigious talent. Not to diminish the entire cast’s performances I have to add that it was a sheer delight to see veteran actor and friend Pat Flaherty’s truly triumphant return to the stage after a rather lengthy hiatus.
This show is to local theatre what candy is to Halloween: fun, sweet and, oh, so delicious.
The Sunshine Boys continues at Playcrafters Barn Theatre, 4950 – 35th Avenue in Moline, Friday and Saturday, October 25 and 26 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 27 at 3:00 p.m.
I’m Chris Hicks…break a leg.