Review: Compass Players Presents WEST PALM PRIME

The promos for Compass Players' production of Cynthia J. Cohen's light comedy, WEST PALM PRIME (now "world premiering" through March 31st at Peoria Center for the Performing Arts) promise more than the play delivers.

It's a muddled endeavor based on a thematic question that, in these 21st Century days of liberated and active seniors, seems pretty outdated: Can two people find love in the "prime" of their lives?

Of course, the answer is a resounding affirmative. Now that eighty has become the new sixty, the old myth that life and sex in one's golden years are virtually kaput has been put to bed. Geriatric romance (and promiscuity) have been out of the closet for quite a while. Flicks as discrete as Grumpy Old Men, It's Complicated, and Late Blossom, and even shows like TV's Golden Girls, (along with the wonders of pharmaceutical innovation) have sure helped to dispel the specter of senior libidinal paralysis.

It's in this context that the playwright poses a second question that is at the heart of this romantic tale: Can "the primes" find love "especially if they're in-laws?" The answer is, of course they could if there were any hint or semblance of mutual affection and attraction displayed throughout their interactions ~ any nuances in performance that might suggest the possibility of two characters, as opposite as night and day, attracting.

The in-laws in their prime are Rose Meyers (Jeanna Michaels, who also directs the play) and Milt Steinmetz (Dave Golden) ~ both widowed and residing (not cohabiting) together. They share the mortgage, occupy their own spaces, and bicker endlessly.

Milt is perpetually cranky, stubborn, spoiled, demanding, and controlling. What's to like?

Rose dutifully mothers her brother-in-law, more a grateful attendant and caterer than a friend, stoically withstanding his curtness. A thankless job! She's a romantic soul, though, whose affections have turned secretly to an affair with Irish Tom Sheehan (C. D. Macaulay), one of Milt's card-playing buddies in a group called "The Studs."

The play follows an uneven path along the way to its predictable although unconvincing outcome, introducing a daughter for Milt (Megan Holcomb), a son for Rose (Derek Gaboriault), and two other gregarious Studs (Dan Meiller and Peter Nonas).

Cohen has thrown a slew of comedic elements into the sink ~ Yiddishisms, malapropisms, double entendres ~ but the humor falls flat like unleavened bread. The subtleties in character development that might give credence to jealousy and a marriage of true minds are lacking. The sum of the play is not greater than its parts.

The show runs through March 31st at the Peoria Center for the Performing Arts.

Photo credit to Compass Players