On stage at Princeton Summer Theater through June 27 is Neil Simon’s classic, Barefoot in the Park, directed by the theater’s Artistic Director, Lucy Shea. PST is located on the Princeton University campus in the charming Hamilton Murray Theater, which is not a large house, so every seat is great.
If you’re a Neil Simon fan, you’ll enjoy the look back at this early romantic comedy, first produced in 1963, which was the author’s longest-running Broadway hit. Lots of his trademark awkward situations and strong personalities are there, though it precedes many of his most iconic plays, like the Odd Couple, Plaza Suite, and Brighton Beach Memoirs—that last by two decades. He captured well the spirit of the early 60s, which could seem rather freewheeling, even as it clung to old-fashioned views regarding a woman’s place in marriage.
Corrie and Paul Bratter have been married six days. Free-spirited Corrie (played by Shaelin McKenna) has taken a sixth-floor walk-up apartment without her husband Paul (Joe McLean) having seen it. If the reactions of the telephone repair man (Jordan Rashdan) and deliveryman are any indication, Paul may find the climb to his new home a bit daunting, and he does. In fact, every visitor arrives in comic panting distress. Worse, the apartment is empty—the furniture hasn’t arrived yet. Ever-optimistic, Corrie expected the apartment to be perfect when Paul first saw it. He tries, but he’s bothered by the lack of heat in the middle of winter, the leaking skylight, and the bedroom not much bigger than a closet.
He’s also concerned about the flakiness of some of the neighbors. All that is minor. He has to spend the evening getting ready for the first case he will present in court the very next morning. Of course, there’s no desk or table, and no place to sit, except on a suitcase. But Corrie has no intention of letting him spend their first evening working.
Corrie’s mother (Abigail Bernesky) arrives and tries to be positive about the place, once she catches her breath, but you can see she’s struggling. The cast is rounded out by one of their neighbors, Victor Velasco (Jacob Schorsch), an impecunious bohemian who lives in the attic. Before long, Corrie has the idea of introducing her mother and Victor, in the hope of a little romance. How that turns out and whether Corrie and Paul can negotiate newly-married life with increasingly obvious personality differences make for an entertaining evening. All five actors give strong performances and convey the character arcs well.
The set is simple, but flexible, and Lucy Shea, a Princeton undergraduate, keeps the action lively and the characterizations clear.
Production credits to: Jeff Van Velsor (set design), Kat McLaughlin (lighting design), Alex Conboy (costumes), and Kristen Marie Tan (sound). Princeton Summer Theater performances are at the Hamilton Murray Theater on the campus of Princeton University, easily reachable by New Jersey Transit. Contact the box office at https://www.princetonsummertheater.org/