Even more important was the psychological realism beneath the surface … Everyone in the audience seemed to have moments of clear recognition.

Theater Review—

‘Wonderful World’ Another Wonderful Stray Kats Offering

By Julie Stern

The talk back afterwards was almost as much fun as last weekend’s staged reading by Stray Kats of Richard Dresser’s Wonderful World, a peek into the lives of a seriously dysfunctional family, and the sweet young thing who’s semi-entrapped in their sticky web of passive aggression and neurosis.

It takes a while to recognize this because the play is structured as a series of sitcom style episodes, in which an ensemble of characters say outrageous things to each other, while the audience in Edmond Town Hall’s Alexandria Room willingly supplied the laugh track. The situation is this: Max, a sweet-natured and affable school teacher has finally overcome the shadow of his parents’ unhappy marriage and agreed to tie the knot with Jennifer, his live-in girlfriend.

To celebrate the engagement he has invited his older brother Barry, and his wife, Patty, to come for drinks and dinner. Or maybe he blew it:  Maybe his invitation wasn’t explicit enough to include Patty, and so she is home in bed sulking, which she does a lot. This makes Barry angry. Max has ruined their marriage. Unless he apologizes profusely and immediately, Barry will never speak to him again…

Next thing you know, Barry is visiting Jennifer at her job (in the complaint department of a store) telling her that his relationship with Max will be ruined unless she takes the first step and apologizes to Patty. When Jennifer reluctantly tries to make overtures, Patty dismisses her caustically.

“I have my marriage and my job and my old friends. I don’t have time to make new friends unless they have something worthwhile to offer me,” she tells Jennifer.

Patty is clearly the sister-in-law (and wife) from hell, but her mother-in-law, Lydia, thinks she’s wonderful. Why couldn’t Max have found someone like her? Why must he waste his time on what’s-her-name?

 “I’m less materialistic than Barry, and a little deeper,” Max keeps saying sheepishly, in defense of his life choices, but then why does he keep doing things to undermine his own relationship, like confide to Jennifer that he sometimes has fantasies of killing her? And when she and Patty are alone together…oh dear…

It’s kind of a grotesque comedy — as if Edward Albee wrote the script for Everybody Loves Raymond — but it worked very well, in part because of the excellent acting from the cast of five: Barbara Rhoades as Lydia, Damian Long as Max, Sean Hannon as Barry, Joanna Keylock as Jennifer, and Barbara Ellen Stuart as a very scary Patty.

Even more important was the psychological realism beneath the surface gag-lines. Everyone in the audience seemed to have moments of clear recognition.

And in the talk back on April 28, the actors had a chance to explain their own interpretations of their characters. We’ve probably all seen that kind of toxic behavior at some point. Let’s hope Jennifer has the good sense to get away.