Curtain Rises: Playwright may visit Penna. Playhouse for LV premiere of her play
BY KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS
Special to The Press
For its first show of 2022, Pennsylvania Playhouse will present a new comedy its playwright says was written in homage to Noel Coward and Neil Simon.
“The Exes,” penned by award-winning writer Lenore M. Skomal, has its Lehigh Valley premiere Jan. 28- Feb. 13.
The seven-person comedy dealing with bickering exes on the wedding day of a daughter had its off-Broadway debut in 2019.
Because of the coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic, the Playhouse performance is only the second time the comedy is being staged.
Skomal plans to be in Bethlehem to talk with the cast about the show’s characters and for a talk-back with the audience after the Jan. 30 matinee performance.
“I am really excited to see the show and how it plays on a smaller stage,” says Skomal, who resides in New York City.
After its off-Broadway run, the show was booked at more than one dozen theaters, including Pennsylvania Playhouse, but performances were canceled when the pandemic hit in 2020.
The Playhouse is the first community theater to stage the show.
“Whatever they do, I will be thrilled,” Skomal says. “I want to see what they see.”
The comedy marks the first directorial project for Mark Stutz following his retirement in December 2021 after nearly 20 years as director of visual and performing arts for Parkland School District.
Stutz hasn’t directed at the Playhouse since the 1980s when he helmed “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris” and “The Mad Woman of Chaillot.”
“I was looking for a small cast for my re-entry into community theater,” says Stutz.
“The blending of a Neil Simon type setup combined with a Noel Coward sense of status really attracted me to the project. The script is well-crafted and allows the actors to really get into their characters,” Stutz says.
In the play, self-made billionaire Richard (Thomas Mattei) and his best friend Dick (Shaun Hayes) were married successively to the same woman, strong-willed Mavis (Rebecca Pieper).
As Richard is preparing for his daughter’s Christmas Eve wedding on a snowy day in Boston, Mavis shows up uninvited with her Danish fiancé, Marcel (Aidan King), in tow.
Sarah Rice plays Victoria, the champagne-swilling spoiled bride.
The cast is rounded out with a stuffy English butler, Prim (Bill Joachim), and Dick’s snarky son, Garrett (Chris D’Imperio), in the comedy of marriage and divorce that is irreverent and heartfelt.
Skomal was inspired by Coward and Simon to write a farce that is a commentary on a narcissistic personality.
“Divorce has become common. I wanted to explore how people handle it,” Skomal says.
She also wanted the comedy to be attractive to community theaters.
“There are roles for mature actors, a single set and costumes that are easy to source,” she says.
“The Exes” is Skomal’s second play and her first comedy. Her first play was “Bluff,” a drama about mental health that debuted off-Broadway in 2016.
With more than 30 years of professional writing experience as a journalist, columnist and author, Skomal has published 17 books and won numerous literary awards. “Bluff” was first written as a novel and was a finalist in literary fiction category of the International Book Awards 2012.
Skomal founded Broadway Bound Theatre Festival, to showcase new playwrights, in New York City.
“I am very proud that we have put on 110 shows since 2016,” she says.
“Curtain Rises” is a column about the theater, stage shows, the actors in them and the directors and artists who make them happen. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com