Neil Simon, considered one of the world's most prolific playwright since Shakespeare, has made yet another Broadway hit with "Plaza Suite."
By NAOMI DOUDAIPlaza Suite
By Neil Simon
Cameri Theater
October 30, 2005
Neil Simon, considered one of the world's most prolific playwright since Shakespeare, has made yet another Broadway hit with "Plaza Suite."
It is a 3 part play, set against opulent suite 719 of the old Plaza Hotel, in which three diverse couples act out a moment of deep crisis in their respective lives. Part one, "The Visitors from Mamaroneck", shows Sam and Karen, a middle-aged couple celebrating their wedding anniversary in the same suite in which they spent their honeymoon. Karen's sentimental arrangements soon sour when a distracted Sam is reluctant to join in. Part Two, "The Visitor from Hollywood", tells Jesse's story. A successful producer with three failed marriages behind him, he tries to rejuvenate himself by contacting Betty, his high-school sweetheart whom he is set on seducing. In Part Three, "The Visitors From Forest Hills", Millie and Marvin, the frustrated parents of Mimsey, a bride who has locked herself in the lavatory, fight about how to get her downstairs to face the waiting guests.
The Scottish Leslie Lawton's direction is tight, tense, and plays up witty dialogue and physical comedy with fluency. Adrian Vaux provides an evocative reproduction of the now defunct but once celebrated Plaza Hotel in New York. It is splendid performance by the principal actors that must make this production a Tel Aviv hit too. Anat Waxman and Shlomo Bar Abba transform deftly from part to part.