Some plays are simply comfort food – warm, satisfying and faintly nostalgic. Joe DiPietro’s cleverly sentimental Over The River and Through The Woods falls squarely in this category and manages to rise above its own tropes (Italian families love food, the amusing frailties of senior citizens, etc.) often enough to enjoy it on its own terms. A romantic comedy with just the right dash of tragedy, Over The River…is a formula piece, yes, but also a perfect vehicle for the right cast. The Players at Barker Playhouse have delivered exactly what this play requires, and their production, running through March 24, will leave you alternately satiated and, with the appearance of so much onstage food, starving for a meal at Grandma’s.
Director Catherine Fox has assembled a fine cast, led by Mike Daniels as Nick, the young, unmarried advertising professional who spends every Sunday (at the very least) dining with and receiving the fawning attention of his four grandparents. A Hoboken kid living the dream in New York City, Nick’s (of course) hilarious elder family members want nothing more than to see him stuffed with supper and married off to a nice girl, keeping him tied to the clan forever. Nick, however, has an opportunity for advancement as an ad executive in Seattle, and he dreads letting them know that he may not be around for Sunday dinner anymore. Grandma Emma (played with a sweetly cynical effusiveness by Marcia Layden) hatches a scheme to hook Nick up with the also-single Caitlin O’Hare (Madison Weinhoffer in a fine appearance, balancing nicely between bemused and resigned) in the hopes that he’ll forget Seattle for a wife and children somewhere within commuting distance of the weekly antipasto.
And, as expected, hilarity ensues, and we are treated to two acts of sweetness, some clever humor that would make Neil Simon jealous and a touch of genuine pathos that is telegraphed early on but pays off in the end with a slow denouement that elevates Over The River…well beyond New York Italian stereotypes and a few cliché senior moments. Mark Lima as Frank Gianelli turns in one of the best performances we’ve seen from him at Barker, quietly charming and full of devil-may-care. His better half, Aida (Janette Talento-Ley) is the keeper of the feast and spends most of the show inhabiting the kind of over-the-top Italian matron that would be missed if she weren’t there, but definitely takes up the most air in the room. Some of her scenes veer into “that’s a-spicy meatball!” territory, but that’s the nature of the beast. Michael Pugliese’s Nunzio is also the best work we’ve seen from him in this space – a quiet strength that comes from a slow-and-steady approach to life. When he talks about meeting Emma for the first time, it’s a fiction, but we want to hear it as he wants to tell it, and everyone is swept away with the purity of his affection. Daniels anchors the ensemble with a movie-star earnestness that is never forced; he never lets himself get beyond what’s on the page and simply tells the story in a rare example of a lead never hogging their time in the spotlight.
Much of this extremely tight ensemble work must be credited to director Fox, who not only has to control the pace of a rapid-fire dramedy, but deal with the iniquities of staging the dreaded dinner table scenes. While a scattered amount of the scenes in this production rely a little too heavily on “cheating out” to the audience, seated in a thrust-stage, almost three-quarter round arrangement, the Last Supper-style method of everyone seated on one side of the table is a somewhat necessary evil. While it would be possible to devise blocking that allows for a more natural seating arrangement, a choice must be made as to whether or not it’s more important to tell the story and land the jokes than it is to see Nunzio and Emma constantly getting up to pass the veal. The flow here is almost perfect, and no amount of shrewd chess moves with the actors is going to make that any better. Fox is to be commended for making what could be an uneven, or worse, flat presentation, hum with life and a palpable connection among her quite capable cast members.
Kudos also to Dan Clement’s scenic design, enabling two fully realized rooms onstage at once without relying on the tired “imaginary wall” concept. Downstage on the thrust is a comfortable living room area with just the right balance of movability and comfortable clutter. Upstage is an elegant dining room that doesn’t skimp on scope. Almost another character in the show itself is all the food, under the supervision of properties manager, Michelle Savoie. A parade of sandwiches, desserts and platters heaving with delicacies permeate each scene. By the end of the evening, one could place bets that visits to Italian restaurants still open after the show increase tenfold (I felt compelled to head on over to Pizza J on Westminster Street just to get anything with marinara on it).
In the end, Over The River And Through The Woods asks some intriguing questions, the largest of which is who to blame when a family member wants to branch out? Are Nick’s grandparents holding him too close, or is he too caught up in the glamour and allure of a nice paycheck when all that matters is family, food and, yes, a little alliterative faith? While the script is from 1998, the feel is timeless because the central concerns are universal. In this story, and especially in Barker’s taut production, there is something for everyone. It’s Sunday dinner for all and there’s no shortage of comfort.
The Players at Barker Playhouse present Joe DiPietro’s Over The River And Through The Woods, Directed by Cathy Fox, through March 24. 400 Benefit St, Providence. For tickets, email: players1909@gmail.com or call 401-273-0590. More details at playersri.org.