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Well-acted 'Same Time' offers different experience

By BARBARA FREDRICKSEN
Published February 18, 2007

Same Time, Next Year is one of those shows you think you've seen enough of because you've seen the movie.

'Tain't necessarily so.

The stage version playing at the Forum at Stage West Community Theatre through Feb. 25 is the same story but an altogether different experience - and one that could hardly be more enjoyable, thanks to fine performances by Jennifer Vilardi and Gary McCarragher, who were well cast and guided by director Andrea Gleason.

Same Time tells the story of two people who carry on a once-a-year affair that spans 25 years, never mind that each one is happily married to someone else and each is the loving parent of three children.

George (McCarragher) is an uptight accountant who is openly and quite theatrically wracked with guilt over this affair. Doris (Ms. Vilardi) feels just as guilty, but she handles it internally.

Their tryst starts in 1951, and we see them meet every five years or so until 1975, sharing one good story and one bad story about their spouses and the big events in their lives, then making passionate love for the next 22 or 23 hours.

Their metamorphoses over that quarter century feel surprisingly current - changing feelings, attitudes about politics and world affairs, careers - and that creates the one problem with this production.

Despite a time line in the program that lists the year of each scene and clever scene changes in which the two set dressers refer to events going on at the time of the next scene, many in the opening night audience seemed to think the play was taking place during a recent period.

That would explain why many laughed out loud at the beginning of Act 2 when George, now 15 years older than the beginning of Act 1 and sporting some gray hair, is shown downing liquor and pills and is assumed to be taking Viagra, when he is actually taking Valium. In 1965, the year of the scene, Viagra hadn't been invented. The difference indicates a whole different story.

Perhaps a few changes of props: A lava lamp? A different bedspread design? A newer radio on the mantle? A big wall calendar?

Yes, there is a line that says their room never changes, but that could refer to the placement of furniture and color of paint, not the details that would clue in the audience that significant segments of time are passing.

That said, the characterizations couldn't be more appealing.

Ms. Vilardi's Doris has an easygoing pleasantness and serenity that embody her very essence. Her natural smile and gentle ways make clear who and what Doris is. Still, with impressive skill, Ms. Vilardi conveys that Doris is often churning inside, even as she appears to have a bottomless capacity of strength.

McCarragher's George seems to wear his feelings on his sleeve, waving his arms, pacing about, wringing his hands and rolling his eyes. This makes his shutdown, totally controlled demeanor in Act 2 all that more striking.

The contrasts in the changing emotions of George and Doris over the years is delightful, letting the actors bounce the dialogue by playwright Bernard Slade back and forth to full effect.

It all adds up to a little more than two hours of thoroughly delightful theater and a genuine emotional experience for the audience.

Be aware, though, that Same Time, Next Year is an adult play for people who can accept that certain profanities (G-- d--- and f---, for example) have become part of the lexicon.

Fast Facts:

'Same Time, Next Year'

A comedy, at the Forum at Stage West Community Playhouse, 8390 Forest Oaks Blvd., Spring Hill. Shows at 2 p.m. today and Feb. 25; 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $10. Call (352) 683-5113.

[Last modified February 17, 2007, 20:23:50]