Reviews:The most obvious aspect of this Skylight Production is the enjoyment shared by its cast. The relish with which they deliver the Neil Simon script, with all its acerbity and comic irony, is so infectious that the pauses between the laughter are filled with smiles.
The important thing, however, is that the comedy is not taken for granted but is worked for with attention to both verbal and physical detail.
Led by Alf McCarthy as Oscar Madison and Conor Dwane as Felix Ungar, the group of men interact easily, spilling, as the playwright intended, the details of their commonplace but well-intentioned lives as they share their ritual poker games. This mutual confidence must be a tribute to director Michael Twomey, who also creates, from material which in many respects is dated, something familiar as well as friendly.
Jim Queally's set is attractive and convincing and although the play makes no great lighting demands, what is required is provided smoothly by Ray Paddens. Camilla Ahlfors makes sure that the costumes suit what in many ways is a difficult era to define, mid-1960s New York, and only the occasional slippage of accents contradicts this well-made composite scenario.
It is no surprise that the play has survived so well as to make this presentation utterly enjoyable. Despite Simon's own much-divorced marital history, there is no black underlay to his depiction of two good friends who through force of circumstances have to live together for a while.
Oscar is the unredeemed and unredeemable slob, big-hearted, impulsive and lazy, while Felix, with what might now be called a mild form of obsessive-compulsive disorder, is pathologically meticulous and also gifted with a genius for self-pity. McCarthy and Dwane have the assurance to measure their quips and asides to best effect but it says something for Simon's skill that this pair do not have all the best lines.
That kind of generosity gives an opportunity to the rest of the cast to make sure that while the ensemble they create supports the action, each one achieves a separate and precise identity.
It is only with the introduction of what might be regarded as "the female interest" that the strong hint of television sitcom - and of a particular kind of casual misogyny - emerges; again, this seems typical of the times and its comic sharpness makes it acceptable in the context of the play itself, especially as, like all concerned in this clever and entertaining production, Sharon Hobbs and Lorraine Manley give it all they've got. - Mary Leland
Runs until July 21
