A tipsy Leo (David Vilandre) and Pat (Tom Gaudet) recount a night at the casino in a scene from “The Porch.” (Rich Dussault photo)
“By the time the lights go up two hours later, you will know these folks just about as well as you do your own family, friends or the next door-neighbor.” So says Worcester Telegram & Gazette reviewer Paul Kolas in his highly favorable recap of Stageloft Repertory Theater’s current production of “The Porch.”
The emotionally edged comedy about five Boston-area seniors’ ribald banter during Labor Day weekend in 2004 earned a perfect 4-star rating from Kolas.
“The Porch,” which debuted Sept. 5 and runs through Sept. 28, is being staged at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays.
Click here to read the full T&G review online (link has been updated). Visit this link for more show details and to preorder tickets
Calling it “incessantly funny” yet “unexpectedly moving,” Kolas offered huzzahs for nearly every element of the show.
Among the “marvelous” cast of five, Kolas spotlighted Nancy Hilliard’s performance as Gert as “something special, the way she frustratingly circles around the bull’s-eye of unpleasant detail without having to spell it out for Alma, who (Emily) Goldfarb invests with endearing naivete.”
Hilliard’s frequent face-offs with dour hubby Leo (David Vilandre) are sprinkled with “lovable tension,” Kolas said, while the other aged couple — Cherry Lynn Zinger (Marjorie) and Tom Gaudet (Pat) — handle their own contretemps “with charming diplomacy.”
When Leo and Pat hold center stage, Vilandre and Gaudet display “great comedic timing” during their candid conversations.
Kolas extended additional praise to Director Jim Porter for his adroit guidance and “perfectly cozy” set design, and even complimented “Porch” playwright Jack Neary’s “impressive feat of giving (the actors) racy things to say without being offensive to more sensitive ears.”
While noting that the audience “laughed themselves silly” during the play’s many riotous exchanges, Kolas wisely avoided any spoilers related to the emotionally searing moment when one of the seniors unburdens themselves of a long-held secret.
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