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Sophisticated Fare Being Served at the Depot with Beyond Therapy
Christopher Durang's adult comedy, Beyond Therapy is pulling into the Depot Theatre in February. This funny 80's period piece will appeal to those currently in therapy, those who have washed their hands of therapy forever, those who have lived with, dated or even had lunch with anyone in therapy, skilled therapists happily practicing their profession, unskilled therapists foisting their internal demons upon the unsuspecting yet insured, anyone who has placed, answered or lined their kitty's litter box with the personal ads, people who consider themselves straight, people who profess to be gay, everyone who calls themselves bi-sexual and anyone who has enjoyed watching Frazier. If you have ever waited to order in a restaurant that serves food that is not worth waiting for - you should definitely see this play. You will relate and you will smile.
It's girl-meets-boy-has-boywants girl-and-boy. It's a deliciously witty battle of the sexes that goes both ways. Bruce has a live-in male lover but places a personal ad in order to meet the mother of his children. After Prudence encounters Bruce on two blind dates, both of their psychiatrists handle the fallout. Psychiatrists are easy targets, but there are no cheap shots in Durang's ode to neuroses. Lampooning word association is smart fun. Poking fun at macho mental health professionals who seduce their clients feels like fair play within the play. The plot twists and turns like a dance floor packed with Donna Summer devotees. If you like to laugh, especially at the precarious human conditions generated in the trenches of love relationships, get a sitter for the kids and come enjoy.
Beyond Therapy opened on Broadway in 1982. Audiences and critics loved this satire of New Yorkers' reliance on therapists and personal ads for companionship. It has become one of Durang's most frequently produced plays.
Joe Levy, relatively new to the Hudson Valley, and a veteran of production in the professional theatre is happy to be making his directorial debut at the Depot. Many local favorites are returning to the Depot for another strut and fret upon the stage. Husband and wife, Bobbie and Liz Convertino duke it out as the confused and the conflicted lovers, Bruce and Prudence. Jeremy McLellan cat fights for the love life of Bob, Bruce's lover. Sterling Swann plays the swaggering-evenwhile seated role of Stewart, Prudence's therapist who needs a therapist. Nancy Swann portrays the disturbingly nutty yet lovable Charlotte, first Bruce's then Bob's and then everyone's disco-loving therapist. Bill Erickson plays Andrew the eagerly anticipated waiter. Rob Bissinger is designing the set.
It's definitely an evening for those of you who enjoy adult situations and language. If you prefer your entertainment sexuality free you may want to miss this one. But whatever you do, don't try and analyze how you feel about coming. Just come. It's an evening filled with the most effective therapy of all - laughing at ourselves.
Beyond Therapy opens Feb. 16th and runs three weekends. Feb. 16,17,18 and 23,24,25 and March 2,3, 4. Friday and Saturdays at 7:30, Sunday at 2. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors. Call 424-3900 for reservations. Pre theatre dinner specials available at Riverview Restaurant by calling 265-4778 or riverdining.com.
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