Can two divorced women share an apartment together without driving each other crazy?
If you ask that question in a low serious voice, you may not be able to stop remembering the familiar melody from The Odd Couple TV series.
My introduction to the play was that TV show, where I loved how opposite the two friends were, and how the difference didn’t make a difference. Their situation, their friends, their whip smart dialogue are all indelible. Maybe you’ve compared these iconic characters to friends in your own lives: “You’re such an Oscar,” “He’s a real Felix,” etc. Fast forward to 1985, when the Good Doctor Neil Simon wrote this version to give, at last, an exploration of how women deal with divorce. It also gave us women a chance to play these plummy parts.
At Kent State University (alma mater to me and Executive Director Ron Law), I was enrolled in Freshman English and asked to write down on a little card the top three American playwrights. My professor was looking for Williams, Miller, and O’Neill, and scoffed at my card where I’d written only one name, the most prolific and consistently successful writer of our time: Neil Simon. My respect has only deepened in working on this play.
On behalf of the uncannily good-looking cast and crew, we hope you enjoy peering through the windows into 1985, and our version of this Odd Couple.
—Jill Bloede
Director, "The Odd Couple (Female Version)" at Theatre Charlotte
"The Odd Couple (Female Version)" runs at Theatre Charlotte through June 24. Tickets are available through CarolinaTix at 704-372-1000 or http://www.carolinatix.org/default.asp?tix=59&objId=2571
