Review: PLAZA SUITE by Neil Simon at Hillbarn Theatre

It’s no coincidence that Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite opens Hillbarn’s historic 85th season. It was 57 years ago that the comedy opened on Broadway,  and since then Hillbarn and Simon have created an artistic bond, being the most produced playwright in their history. This production sparkles with his signature wit and charm, featuring strong performances by leads Will Springhorn Jr. and Laura Jane Young and fine direction by Marissa Keltie.

Written in 1968 during the fomenting sexual revolution and women’s equality movements, the three unrelated acts about marriages and infidelity may seem antiquated now. Seen as a snapshot of that time, the humor of the situations is timeless in Simon’s astute hands. Married couples will always bicker, and affairs happen and both Springhorn Jr. and Young spin gold with both the pathos and comic dialogue. True to the original Broadway staging, the two actors play the couples in all three acts.

Simon is weakest in Act 1, with a couple’s marriage disintegrating due to an affair. The gruff husband obsessed with not aging and convinced this is not a predictable mid-life crisis. The wife is struggling to hold on, willing to forgive and forget. There are some laughs thrown in, but it’s a slog. Acts 2 and 3 more than rise to the occasion though, each being better than the last. It also provides Springhorn and Young with a chance to let their comic hair down and have fun with Simon at his best.

Act 2 has a big-time Hollywood producer, jaded by his three failed marriages, searching for honesty, authenticity, and unspoiled in the form of his High School girlfriend. She’s now married with kids but agrees to meet up with him for a drink. One drink turns into five, and innocent Muriel turns out to be a huge tinsel-town fan turned on by Jesse’s name-dropping. Seems her happy marriage isn’t, and her tag line of one more drink “then I gotta go” cements the willing-woman scenario.

Act 3 adds a touch of slapstick to the ridiculous as a frantic couple try to coax their panicked bride-to-be daughter out of a locked bathroom. The situation pits the couple against each other as to who failed their daughter. The act has an I Love Lucy feel with concerns over the costs of the wedding, the wife’s ripped stocking and the disgrace they may realize. Their pleading and cajoling at the bathroom door are wonderful and both actors and director Keltie shine. The situation revolves around the bride’s desire not to end up like her parents and that says everything about Simon’s perspective on old married couples.

Plaza Suite’s construct of three unrelated scenarios set in the same suite works well, and I liked that the play gets progressively better and better. The chemistry between Young and Springhorn works even if the vehicle is kinda retro and not Simon’s best material.

Plaza Suite runs through September 14th. Tickets online at www.hillbarntheatre.org by phone at 650.349.6411 Ext. 2

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