Patio Playhouse premieres local playwright Peggy Dougherty's From Bed To Worse under Jim Clevenger's direction. Set in contemporary New York, the play places a psychologist, two of her patients, and her husband in a series of vignettes. Mary Canon (Sharon Lawson) is treating a patient, Cynthia Wells (Karen Spafford), who is having an affair with a married man. There is a great deal of similarity between her lover and Mary's husband, Dentist Richard Breyer (George Blum). The play, however, plays more with human foibles, the effect of prevarication, and making judgements using insufficient information.
Dougherty, herself a psychologist, doesn't miss a chance to put her characters deeper into deception and erroneous conclusions. Her commentary on life, as seen through the eyes of a professional as well as an insightful observer, is often incisive. The opening scene, as Mary listens to her answering machine, is a delight and sets the mood for the many dichotomies to come. A message from a compulsive jock as she does stretches, an overeater as she munches on a snack...well you get the idea. The playwright spices the script with puns and double entendres. Granted, she overstates plot points, and within the first five minutes we know the direction of the play. She also forecasts the probable ending rather than slowly letting us in on the plot twist. That makes for a longish 110 minutes. A little fine tuning would turn a charming work into a potentially great one.
Director Clevenger, whom we've seen many times on stage, errs in using overly realistic set pieces, which make for very long set changes. The script moves at a fast clip, only to be brought to a stop at every blackout, which were accompanied by the same selection of music.
With only a few exceptions, the players act the roles as written without delving beyond the printed word into any depth of character. The exceptions, therefore, stand out. In a cameo role, George Daye plays his French waiter to perfection. Christopher DeArmond makes bartender Jonathan Swill a sleazy charmer who knows the value of a stiff drink for his victim. Peggy Schneider, as Susan Mender, Mary's friend, convinces as both a friend and tyro seducer of Canon's husband, Richard Breyer (George Blum).
Sharon Lawson, as Mary Canon, ranges from confident professional to obsessed jealous wife, from seducer to seducee, from totally controlled to completely out of control (which seems out of character for a professional woman). Her transitions from cold sober to progressively more drunk are much better modulated.
Supporting roles included Karen Spafford as Cynthia Wells, a patient seeing a married man, Steve Rowe, as a patient, and George Blum as Richard Breyer.
