Skilled cast makes ‘Isn’t It Romantic’ look easy
Comedy examines ‘80s family life at Barker Playhouse
PROVIDENCE – The late playwright Wendy Wasserstein wrote “Isn’t It Romantic” in the 1980s, when women were asking if they could “have it all.”
At the time, forsaking marriage and children for a career still was an outlier. While that idea has shifted, the points Wasserstein makes in her play still hit home, and so does the humor — especially when performed by a perfectly cast group of actors like those at the Barker Playhouse.
But the story is interesting, too, and full of funny lines and situations. It deals with two college friends now living in New York and getting started on careers. Janie Blumberg is a shortish, plumpish, self-deprecating writer, very much at loose ends careerwise and personally. Her friend is the attractive and ambitious Harriet Cornwall, who, as the play begins, has just landed a career-making position at Colgate-Palmolive.
Both are trying to separate themselves from parental influence, and also to figure out how – and if – a man will play a role in their lives.
Relationships between the young women, their parents and the men in their lives are explored in a series of scenes that are hilarious but often revealing, or touching. Under the insightful direction by Tom DiMaggio, the actors deliver the laughs and the sentiment with perfect timing and lots of heart.
Karen Gail Kessler drew an ovation and whoops of appreciation as Tasha Blumberg, Janie’s overbear- ing – albeit confident and happy – mother. Janie feels like Tasha is trying to run her life, and Kessler gets most of her laughs for her meddling ways.
But Kessler easily trades comedy for poignancy, as when she acknowledges in a brief but authentic Mom moment: “My daughter thinks I call her in the morning to check upon her…. (She) never thinks I call because I miss her.”
The show’s seven other actors are so good it would be easy to think they are playing themselves. They nail the personalities, but they also get the characters’ little quirks and postures right.
As Janie Blumberg, Tammy Mulrooney uses body language to wonderful effect, especially a sidelong glance that expresses so much: disdain, disbelief, or her wobbly uncertainty about her path in life. Katie Preston brings understanding to her portrayal of Harriet, whose poised appearance belies insecurities beneath it.
The men in their lives are equally well played. Janie’s suitor, Marty, is a really nice guy but one who just assumes he’ll make all the big decisions, and actor Michael Pugliese pulls off this good/bad quality with natural ease. Erich Dethlefsen is perfect as Paul, Harriet’s self-assured, no-stringsattached lover, who’s charming — but married, and her boss.
Rounding out the ensemble is Joan Dillenback as Harriet’s mother, Lillian Cornwall, wisely played as a woman who is pleased with her achievements but also has some regrets; Peter Sentkowski as Janie’s father, Simon Blumberg, warily but warmly negotiating life between his strong-willed wife and daughter; and Sam O’Donnell, who is a hoot as Vladimir, a Russian-speaking taxi driver the match-making Blumbergs bring to their daughter’s apartment.
Director DiMaggio and set designer Dan Clement employ multiple levels to create the play’s settings, from an outdoor park to Janie’s disheveled apartment, with Ruth Fagan’s lighting to direct our focus.
Wasserstein’s play rings true to anyone who grew up in the 1970s and ‘80s, or to parents who watched a daughter trying to find her way through all the expectations. There is, moreover, enough wit and wisdom to speak to the current generation – especially in a production as expertly done as this one at the Barker Playhouse.
Performances continue this Friday and Saturday, Dec. 8 and 9, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 10, at 2 p.m., at the Barker Playhouse, 400 Benefit St. Tickets are $25 adults, $15 students with valid ID, and available by calling the box office at (401) 273-0590 or by emailing players1909@gmail.com