By Dale King
Joe DiPietro’s play Over the River and Through the Woods is comfort food for the soul. It’s delightfully funny, but comes with a helping of drama and a garnish of pathos.
The concoction shows how the elders in a closely knit Italian-American family in New Jersey deal with a “crisis.” And, of course, a crisis could be anything that doesn’t fit into their regimented lifestyle.
It is now playing at the Broward Stage Door Theater in Coral Springs. Actually, Over the River launches something of a mini DiPietro-festival at the North Broward venue. Two of the New Jersey playwright’s works — I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change and The Last Romance — are on the bill for the 2014-2015 season.
Like other DiPietro productions that put family and family values on the front burner, this story focuses on 29-year-old Nick Cristano (Stephen Kaiser) and the special bond he has formed with his paternal and maternal grandparents. He dutifully visits with them each Sunday for dinner, and is a frequent enough visitor to realize that their home is always “August in Ethiopia” hot.
When the play starts, Nick has already delivered the boilermaker. He has accepted a job promotion that will move him from Hoboken to Seattle. To Nick, moving away is no big deal. His parents have already made the big relo to Florida, and his sister has also left behind her home and hearth.
But home is sacred to Nick’s elders – grandparents Nunzio (Jerry Weinberg) and Emma (Vicki Klein), Frank (Kevin Reilley) and Aida (Miki Edelman). All are immigrants who had to leave their own families once to build a new life in the United States. Since arriving in America, they have dug in for the long haul — and they don’t want to go through any more goodbyes.
Clearly, you don’t have to be Italian to love the strong familial closeness this play generates. It’s not just another clash of generations, because the action is not predictable. The conclusion, with its mix of joy and sorrow, is an unexpected and not a formulaic resolution.
Frank, Nick’s grandfather, summarizes the elders’ sentiment in a two-word mantra, “Tenga familia.” It means more than just having a family, it means being a man, having responsibility; in fact, having a reason to exist.
Nick’s imminent departure is the play’s driving force. To keep him from heading west, for example, Emma invites Caitlin O’Hare (Abby Perkins), the relative of a canasta partner, to dinner, hoping she and Nick will fall in love and stay in Jersey. Unfortunately, the meal is a bust. And Caitlin, no winnowing flower, calls Nick a name that can’t be printed here. In the end, he has a panic attack and must spent several days with his grandparents, so he really gets to know them.
This extra time together adds to the tug between Nick and his grandparents that will get stronger and more touching. But it also opens his eyes to where the grandparents are coming from – and it’s not entirely anachronistic. In the end, everyone gets a lesson in the interpretation of family and home.
For Over the River, Larry Kent Bramble moves from the stage to the director’s chair. He normally gets the nod for grandfatherly roles. His frequent stage mate, Miki Edelman, did get the call for this show. She is well-suited for the character of Aida, with emotional depth and an elegant grasp of the role.
In her debut at Broward Stage, Vicki Klein does a superb job as Emma. Having worked many theaters in the New York area, she brings a Big Apple twist to the show. Both “grandfathers” are exceptionally endearing and believable. Reilley, who played the vicious father in A Shayna Maidel, offers a kinder, gentler side in his characterization of Frank. Weinberg is a stage veteran who portrays Nunzio with similar ease and stage presence.
Perkins comes south to Broward after getting plenty of experience at The Wick, Dramaworks, The Plaza Theatre and summer rep at FAU. She can be convincingly nice, but also has the ability to visit the dark side.
As Nick, Kaiser seems like a guy who wants to please everyone. His delivery draws the audience into his character’s mindset and makes us wonder what his next move will be.
Over the River and Through the Woods is playing through June 1 at the Broward Stage Door Theater, 8036 W. Sample Road, Coral Springs. For tickets, call 954-344-7765.