Best When It's Kept in the Immediate Family


Reviewed 3/26/04
Revised 3/30/04

Over the River and Through the Woods
by Joe DiPietro
Directed by Don Doyle
Hale Centre Theatre, Gilbert
(480) 497-1181
March 26th - May 8th, 2004
$9.00 - $16.00

The inaugural season at Hale Centre Theatre has been a mixed affair of some fun and solid comedies and some amateurish and ill-advised productions. For their latest production, Director Don Doyle has mounted Joe DiPietro's Over the River and Through the Woods, a script that seems ready to tread dangerously close to Italian family stereotyping, but actually goes beyond and becomes a more prescient script for the travel. The challenge of the Hale-in-the-round has been the downfall of farce and musicals, but here, the intimacy of the setting adds to the audience's connection to the characters, and Doyle expertly handles the sight lines while depending on Italian energy to explain the constant shifting of the family members from furniture piece to furniture piece. Nick (a frenetic Bisk Consoli) is the last of the younger set not having fled from the controlling influences of his grandparents Frank (Bob DePalma), Aida (an Edith Bunker-accented Barbara McGrath), Nunzio (Joe Nuttall), and eternally house coat-clad Emma (Maria Sancho). When Nick receives a promotion that will send him to the other side of the continent, the four come up with a plan to keep him around by setting him up with the sweet Caitlin O'Hare (Kristina Rogers) without telling him during one of their Sunday dinners. Of the sextet that share this living and dining room in Hoboken, four are performed excellently, one is weaker but still acceptable, and one recites their lines like they're printed on the shirts of those in front of them.

Consoli is a strong presence, full of energy and, though sometimes repetitious in his presentation, obviously having fun in the role. He mugs shamelessly, but in a way that is endearing rather than offensive. He has a strong connection with both his actors and the audience, whom he is required to address directly several times. DePalma's Frank is a heavily accented fireball, completely in his character and fun to watch. McGrath's ditzy Aida is an earnest, loveable creation. Nuttall's Nunzio is full of mirth, but when his character is asked to take the audience into dramatic territory, he proves quite capable of pulling the heartstrings with musical precision. While she connects with the others around her, Sancho is guilty of an accent that appears and disappears with alarming frequency. Still, she is a good foil to Nuttall. This family is a great working unity, but when interloper Rogers arrives, just when the comedy should peak, her performance throws cold water on the overheated engine. Rogers' performance would fit better in the "It's a Small World" ride at Disneyland. In her arrival in the first act, she speaks her lines with all of the humanity of an animatronic figure, and with just as much expression. Though her line readings get marginally better in the second act, she still does not make any contact with those around her. The best thing that can be said about her performance is that it is short and does not cause the play to falter in any significant way.

John Autore's set is nice and uses cutaway walls and a door to represent the rooms, but the actors have an awful tendency to look and put their hands through what should be solid matter. Cindy Smith's costumes are excellent in their depiction of character. David Dietlein's lighting is a solid effort with good coverage and a nice use of isolation spots.

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