By Dale King
There is practically nothing original in the theme of Joe DiPietro’s 1998 play, Over the River and Through the Woods. That’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s kind of refreshing.
The show being staged through Sunday at the Delray Beach Playhouse is as comfortable as a broken-in pair of shoes; as fulfilling as a spaghetti dinner just like Mamma used to make.
An excellent troupe of actors that can truly hone in on the characters’ feelings makes the production feel real. It’s a delightful slice of life from the Italian-American playbook. You can hear the laughter on the stage, but you are also aware — sometimes painfully — of the sighs and sniffles that emanate from elders as they deal with crisis.
DiPietro, a New Jersey native, wrote Over the River two years after scoring big with I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, a musical. He went on to pen a couple of other tune-filled shows, All Shook Up and Memphis.
The author sets this play in his home state — in the city of Hoboken, to be exact. Nick Cristano (Frank Stanzione) has grown up there, largely under the wing of his four grandparents. He spends every Sunday having dinner with them, and they all seem to be happy together.
But Nick is seriously considering a job promotion that will move him to Seattle. He knows the idea will not go over well with his elders. And that’s certainly true. After they get the unsettling news, they launch an array of efforts to scuttle the idea, including a comical dinner to fix Nick up with Caitlin O’Hare (Sabina Ortiz). It’s such a failure that Caitlin tells Nick off, using the only vulgarity in the entire production.
The audience has to realize who these characters are. The house where dinner is served each Sunday is the home of Nick’s maternal grandparents, Frank (Stephen Ward) and Aida (Clelia Patrizio). Frank is an Italian immigrant who’s been running into things with his car lately, and Aida is a typical Italian mother to whom everyone always looks hungry.
The other grandparents are Nunzio (Richard Rosen) and Emma (Vicki Klein). The four old-timers love to eat and talk, debating silly things like who saw whom in which supermarket.
But home is sacred to Nick’s elders. All had to leave their own families once to build a new life in the USA. To them, especially to his Old World granddads Frank and Nunzio, the concept of tengo famiglia (“keep the family,” literally, but with much deeper meaning to Italians) is a rallying cry.
Clearly, you don’t have to be Italian to love the strong family closeness at the center of this play. It’s not simply a clash of generations, but a debate over lifestyle, love and the ties that don’t seem to bind any more. The conclusion, with its mix of joy and sorrow, is an unexpected resolution that will certainly touch your heart.
The actors play their parts with gusto. Stanzione, largely overlooked in his small part as Sam Hendrix in DB Playhouse’s last show, Wait until Dark, does a standout job as Nick, giving his character believability — so important to making this play work.
As Frank, Stephen Ward is also true to his character’s Italian heritage and stands foursquare on his belief that families belong together. But he is also vulnerable and is sometimes moved to tears.
Rosen, who plays Nunzio, captures the soul of the gruff but tenderhearted immigrant, to whom duty — particularly to family — always comes first. He is firm, even though he is hiding a dark, forbidding secret. Patrizio is in reality a first-generation Italian-American who says the story and characters “are close to my heart.” Her performance shows it.
Ortiz handles the Caitlin O’Hare role adequately, and does well not to vilify the character whose true feelings are unclear. At times, Caitlin seems mean, but the actress manages to ramp that down.
Director Randolph DelLago handles the material with a light touch, giving much latitude to the performers to find their own way on stage. The set, designed by Cindi Latimer, is typically grandparentish. It’s just the right spot for lasagna and cannoli.
Over the River and Through the Woods will be presented Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Delray Beach Playhouse, 950 Lake Shore Drive (NW 9th St.), Delray Beach. For tickets, call 561-272-1281, Extension 4.