Review: SAME TIME, NEXT YEAR at Players Circle Theater

Is it possible to be in love with two people at the same time? Is cheating on one’s spouse ever acceptable? Can physical intimacy exist without emotional intimacy?

These are only a few of the ideas that the audience is given to ponder during  Same Time, Next Year at Players Circle Theater. But ponder may be too heavy a verb. This is a comedy, after all, and full of funny situations and quite recognizable moments.

A chance encounter between two people, each married to someone else, leads to a one-night stand which in turn becomes an annual weekend tryst. With the help of wigs and costuming (including a slightly recalcitrant mustache), we watch them age and change in six scenes spanning 24 years. Projections on the wall remind us of what was going on in the world as the years pass.

AJ Mendini as George and Kimberly Suskind as Doris are both in the theater’s resident ensemble and have done a number of earlier shows together, so they play off each other well. They give off a classic opposites attract vibe.  Mendini starts as neurotic to the extreme while Suskind is wide-eyed but matter-of-fact. As they mature, he mellows, and she gets a bit edgy as she pursues first education and then liberation.

Both of these actors have great comic timing but can also switch to pathos on a dime. The characters have not only grown as individuals but also as a couple who are there for each other when life turns hard.

If you are in the mood for a non-Hallmark love story, go check this one out. Same Time, Next Year runs through June 7. For tickets, call 239.800.3292.