Attending 'Long Weekend' will brighten yours 

Saturday, May 5, 2001

By Paul Kolas
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE REVIEWER 

THE LONG WEEKEND; a comedy by Norm Foster. Directed by John Wright,
produced by Dave and Kathy Ludt. Presented at 8 tonight, Thursday,
Friday and next Saturday; 2 p.m. tomorrow at Calliope Productions
Theatre, 150 Main St., Boylston. Tickets: $12; $10 for students and
seniors. 
      With Michael Hayes, Deborah Larsen, Brian McNamara and Lori
Haddad. 

BOYLSTON-- Norm Foster may not be exactly a household name in the
same Broadway stratosphere as Neil Simon, but tell that to the large
appreciative audience at Calliope Theatre Thursday night.
     The laughs-per-line ratio would have made Doc Simon smile, as
"The Long Weekend" wittily navigates its merry way through the
relationships of two married couples spending a weekend at a New
England summer house owned by one of the pair, Max and Wynn Trueman.
     Wynn is an old friend of Abby Nash. Because of their
longstanding alliance, Max and Roger Nash feign they can stand each
other, when, in fact, they loathe one another. Max is a somewhat
pompous lawyer who likes showing off his wealth, but has yet to pave
his country driveway, much to Roger's chagrin.
     Wynn is a successful psychologist who is about to be a
published author, another sore point with Roger, who has quit his job
as a high school math teacher to become a screenwriter, an ambition
that Max takes gloating pleasure in sneering at. Abby is a
businesswoman who prefers Kenny G. to John Coltrane, yet is appalled
by her dear friend Wynn's tacky taste in chair design and house paint
color.This lively dissonance is exploited by Foster to the hilt,
resulting in mate swapping and the inevitable disillusionment that
follows. It's almost as if you're watching Neil Simon's version of
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?" -- a light-on-its-feet satire
instead of a long day's journey into matrimonial hell.
     Director John Wright understands the nuances of Foster's
playful verbal fencing, and he keeps his fine cast humming along from
start to finish. Michael Hayes is perfectly cast as the somewhat
arrogant, but all too human, Max. Deborah Larsen is terrifically self-
absorbed as Wynn, the overly analytical professional who eventually
drives both Max and Roger crazy. She may be a best-selling author,
but she'll never make the cover of Better Homes and Gardens.Brian
McNamara makes us feel for Roger, the dreamer who thinks "assuage" is
a more apt word than "pacify." He's the Walter Mitty of this quartet,
willing to quit his job to fulfill that midlife creative urge, and
McNamara's timing and facial expressions are letter perfect. The
"ditz" in this group of malcontents is Abby, and Lori Haddad is
hilarious and warmly believable as the kind of woman who reads Cosmo
while listening to Kenny G.
     It's a funny, amusing, thoughtful play that Dave and Kathy Ludt
have brought to cheerful life on an intimate living-room set,
expertly lit and bookended with some evocative percussive jazz that
Max would certainly approve of. Go see it and laugh. 

Copyright 2001 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.
http://www.telegram.com/news/inside/weekend.html
Worcester Telegram, 5 May 2001, p. A7