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No Fuddy Duddy
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Mar 21, 2008 by MARK ARNEST
Nobody would raise an eyebrow if TheatreWorks or the Star Bar Players were producing "Fuddy Meers." Both have been known to program edgy material.
But the fact that David Lindsay-Abaire's dark comedy opens at the Fine Arts Center -- traditionally the region's venue for mainstream musicals -- is newsworthy.
Blame the shift of the theater-company aesthetic on Alan Osburn, the producer.
"Alan is trying to stretch the boundaries a little bit and bring in a broader audience," said "Fuddy Meers" director Kelly Walters.
"It's pushing the envelope a little bit for the Springs in terms of adult language and content," said Lynn Jacobs, who plays the amnesiac Claire, around whom the play's action swirls.
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Of course, there's more than strong language to Lindsay-Abaire's work. Since "Fuddy" premiered in 1999, he's carved out a niche as one of America's most important contemporary playwrights with such works as "Kimberly Akimbo" and "Rabbit Hole," which won the 2007 Pulitzer prize for drama.
"He tends to write plays about dysfunctional people and families somehow finding their way through the world," Walters said.
Not just dysfunctional, but extremely unusual. Claire isn't your run-of-the-mill amnesiac: Her amnesia allows her to retain new information all day long, but erases it every night.
If the plot sounds familiar, maybe that's because screenwriter George Wing borrowed some of the ideas for the Adam Sandler film "50 First Dates." But one difference is that Lindsay-Abaire tells the story more from Claire's point of view, showing the audience what it's like to wake up each day with a clean slate.
The circumstances are equally unusual -- but Walters doesn't want audience members going into "Fuddy Meers" knowing the story.
"You don't want to say much because the discovery of the play is through Claire's eyes," he said. "What she finds out is crucial to the plot and crucial to who she is."
One of the play's strengths is that Claire's condition gives the play an unusual immediacy: She doesn't know any more about herself than we do.
Walters said the play was absurd and convoluted -- but also that it would reward the audience's attention.
"It does make sense," he said. "You will understand by the end of the play."
details
"Fuddy Meers" by the Fine Arts Center Theatre Company When: Opens today, runs 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays through April 6 Where: Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St. Cost: $24-$29; 634-5583 or csfineartscenter.org
Copyright 2008
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