Review: OFF PEAK at Great Barrington Public Theater

The Performing Arts is a collaborative endeavor.  Many specialists, each uniquely qualified in their specific area of expertise; be it acting, costumes, directing, lighting, playwright, scenic, sound… each contributing, in the hope that the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts.  When it works, it is rather powerful, perhaps even magical.  Rarely, however, is that optimal goal achieved.  OFF PEAK now in it’s New England Premiere at Great Barrington Public Theater is just such a production.

OFF PEAK playing through July 23rd, in the McConnell Theater, Bard College at Simon’s Rock, is a tried-and-true comedy reminiscent of Noel Coward or Nora Ephron, with the spark of Dorothy Parker, by award-winning playwright Brenda Withers. It premiered in 2022 at the venerable Hudson Stage Company, Armonk NY to unanimous delight before moving on to a short run at 59E59 St. Theaters, NYC where it gained more positive notice. The New Yorker called it “sly, smart, often very funny… Withers’ script provides an abundance of emotional and intellectual twists and turns.”  Personally, I thought it was brilliant. 

Sarita and Martin split seventeen years ago. Everything has changed, except their irresistible attraction to each other, and the big question, ‘what if?’. When they find themselves caught together out-of-the-blue on the same train just as it grinds to a dreaded, stuck-on-the-tracks delay, so begins a serendipitous reconnection and reconciliation of a lifetime, the one so many former lovers wish for, so they could end it right, once and for all, without falling for the other’s tricks again. Their delay on the rails becomes a poignant, rich comedy that must arrive at lovers’ resolution before the train rolls on again.

Wither’s script is fully developed, rich, and multi-layered with impeccable dialogue and station stops at comedy, drama, passion, compassion, and pathos. It seamlessly flows, taking us on a 90-minute (without intermission) ride that touches upon many all too familiar dynamic aspects of life that certainly could have been taken from my, and I suspect many - if not most audience member’s inner thoughts or journals.

Under the direction of James Warwick, Peggy Pharr Wilson as Sarita, and Kevin O’Rourke as Martin are natural, relaxed, and comfortable.  The pair do not for a moment appear to be performing.  The same is true of the artistic team’s contributions as well.  The Scenic Design by Sasha Schwartz, Lighting Design by Lara Dubin, Sound Design by Jacob Fisch, Costume Design by George Veale, all superlatively executed, work harmoniously with quiet confidence, not distracting but painting the ideal environment for the action to play out within.  So much so, I was transported back some 40 or so years to days when I commuted via Metro North.

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