Happy Valentine’s Day. How about a nice infidelity?
It’s the premise of the Riverfront Playhouse’s current production of Bernard Slade’s two-person play “Same Time, Next Year.” The play opened Jan. 24 and runs through Feb. 21. There are three performances next weekend — Friday and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon — as well as shows on Feb. 19, 20 and 21.
For more information, visit Riverfront’s website.
The play centers around an accountant and housewife who meet at a Northern California inn in 1951. Both are married to other people, but they experience a night of passion and agree to meet one weekend a year for the next 24 years.
Mostly a comedy (there are some terrific one-liners), the Joan Scott-directed play also tugs at heartstrings. Even if a person struggles with the overriding premise, Slade’s portrait of these two characters is hard to turn away from.
That’s especially the case because of the acting work being done by Carol Shestak, who plays Doris, and Wade Riggs (George). The two are fairly new to lead roles at Riverfront (as far as I know), but they really shine together.
Shestak and Riggs nail the progression of their characters, which comes in five-year blocks. In fact, as an audience member, you begin to anticipate what changes will occur as time progresses. Kudos to the make-up artists (Eryka Ott and Danielle Fulton) and costume designer (Evie Bishop) for bringing out the changes through the years.
Slade’s writing splays open the humanity of Doris and George. The dialogue forms a strong mental picture of the two characters you never see, the spouses. It’s an interesting effect, because just like Doris and George, you end up caring about the two who are never there.
At the same time, you have trouble with what Doris and George are doing. And so do they. But on it goes.
Interesting play, and I credit Riverfront with staging a show with this kind of edge to it. Audiences in Redding can handle PG-13 material with some mature themes.
“Same Time, Next Year” creates emotional weight on several levels, yet disperses the tension through humor. I found it a treat to watch Shestak and Riggs. I’m interested to know what others who have seen the show thought.
