Everyone knows his name, everyone knows his comedic style and,
everyone knows about his success.
Neil Simon has dazzled audiences with a number of funny, offbeat
Broadway plays, Oscar-nominated screenplays, and even a Pulitzer-
Prize-winning drama. Simon continues his prolific playwriting with
the world premiere of his “Rose And Walsh,” which
opened this week, not on Broadway, but in Los Angeles ““ here
in Westwood.
Running through March 9 at the Geffen Playhouse, Simon’s
newest play is a dramatic piece with underlying comedic tones.
“Rose and Walsh” focuses on the love story of two
famous writers, shedding light on the relationship between love and
death. The play brings to life the numerous emotions people keep
inside after losing a loved one ““ anger, hope, obsession,
grief ““ and shows the development and acceptance of the
loss.
“The play is an attempt to look at relationships between
people beyond life and death,” said Marin Hinkle, who plays
Arlene. “It’s revealed at the beginning of the play
that Rose’s lover, Walsh, is dead, but is still alive to her.
He still exists in her mind and life.”
The play also stars Jane Alexander as Rose, Len Cariou as Walsh,
and David Aaron Baker as Clancy, a young writer. While all of the
actors have backgrounds in theater training, some of them also have
experience in film and television, such as Alexander who was
nominated for an Academy Award for “All the President’s
Men,” and Hinkle, who appeared as Judy Brooks on ABC’s
“Once and Again.”
In Simon’s play, the cast is making its world premiere,
unusually at a West Coast theater. While most of Simon’s
works go directly to Broadway, he opted to have his newest creation
open at the Geffen.
“Part of the reason Simon wanted to open the play in L.A.
is the desire of connecting to a theater community here,”
Hinkle said. “As well as the fact that he has built a
supportive environment with the Geffen, Simon probably wanted to
continue to show his appreciation for the Geffen.”
Set against the backdrop of an upper-class East Hampton beach
house complete with wood paneling and a full bar, the play also
seems to hit close to home for Simon, who was unavailable for
comment, because of the nature of the piece and its meaning.
“When I first heard about the play, I was told it was one
of Simon’s more personal plays, that it has a lot of
resonance in his own life,” Hinkle said.
Simon even altered the play during practices to make the
performance flow better by adding pages on the fly if he saw a flaw
in a scene.
“The great thing about Simon is his brain,” Hinkle
said. “He’s so sharp and has such a great wit, he will
just observe us during rehearsals, notice a flaw, leave the room
for literally 15 minutes and return with new pages for
us.”
An aspect of the play that stands out is the fact that even
though it is played out as a drama, there are subtle comedic
undertones that only someone like Simon could possibly add in
successfully according to Hinkle.
Furthermore, the play moves so quickly from the realms of drama
to comedy that it keeps audience members on the edge of their
seats.
“In classic Simon-style, the play keeps audience members
sitting there wanting more,” said Candace Daniels, a
first-year theater student. “He has the ability to make
people crack up during the most dramatic scenes and actually see a
part of themselves in the characters.”
THEATER: The Geffen Playhouse is located at 10886 Le Conte Ave.
Performances are Tuesdays-Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8
p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. For more
info, call (301) 208-5454 or go to www.geffenplayhouse.com.