The Catskill Chronicle

Review by Carol Montana, photos provided

FORESTBURGH, NY (August 29, 2012) – Back in 1963, Neil Simon’s play “Barefoot in the Park” premiered on Broadway starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley.

And almost 50 years later, Forestburgh Playhouse proves it is still one of Neil Simon’s most charming plays.

The early ‘60s were often a time of innocence. And back when phone numbers started with names, newlyweds Corie and Paul Bratter (Emma Carpenter and Zachary Bencal) have just moved in to an apartment, which is five flights up on the top floor of a NYC brownstone – or six if you count the front “stoop.” And the trek up the stairs becomes the running joke in the play. It’s a joke that never gets old thanks to Bencal, telephone installer (Michael Starr – absolutely hysterical), UPS delivery person (Norman Duttweiler in a wonderful cameo) and Corie’s mother Mrs. Banks, played by the always delightful and oh-so-talented Loretta Swit.

Corie is a free-spirited young woman; Paul is more conservative; and their apartment is postage-stamp tiny, has a problem with the heat, no bath tub, and a gaping hole in the skylight. Oh, and the play takes place in February.

Neighbor Victor Velasco (the wonderfully talented Kevin Confoy), lives in the attic. He visits and flirts with Corie, and, in a very funny scene, has to climb out the couple’s bedroom window to get to his apartment. So Corie sets up a blind dinner date with herself and Paul, her widowed mother and the lecherous Victor. Swit’s reaction when told the news is one of the funniest moments in the play.

What follows is a claustrophobic introduction between Swit and Confoy in the miniscule apartment, a delightful drunk scene (remember the five or six flights of stairs?), mistaken conclusions that will leave you breathless with laughter, a battle of wills and an ending that, while it might not reek of “happily ever after,” certainly leaves you with hope for these precious characters.

The play, the charm, the characters, the actors are all irresistible. Carpenter performs Corie with a refreshing innocence that is too often lacking in today’s stories. And if she would just slow her speech down a trifle, you’ll be able to catch all the wonderful lines her character has.

Bencal has a great stage presence. His Paul is straight-laced and often humorless, and definitely too serious for his own good – exactly how Simon wrote the part.

Once again Confoy, as Victor Velasco, zeroes in on his character. Energetic and flamboyant, he has just enough charm so as not to be sleazy.

With no effort at all (or so it seems) Swit’s Mrs. Banks steals many of the scenes. And you could palpably feel the love “across the footlights” between Swit and the audience. What a treat to see her in a role that is so funny and touching. The scenes between her and Confoy are engaging and the comic timing is perfect.

Certain characters are double cast, so, depending on when you go, you may see Lauren Chapman play Corie, Michael Starr play Paul, and Zachary Bencal play the Telephone Man. Swit, Confoy and Duttweiler maintain their parts throughout the run.

The set by Ron Nash, who also acts as Production Stage Manager and Artistic Supervisor, is perfect, as is the costume design by Ashleigh Poteat.

“Barefoot in the Park” runs through Sunday, September 2. For more information visit: The Forestburgh Playhouse website or call the box office at 845-794-1194.

The laughs just keep on coming during “Barefoot in the Park.” What a great way for Forestburgh to end their 2012 summer season.