|
Of family, faith and food
[Photo: American Stage]
The cast for Over the River and Through the Woods includes Rich Rice and Ann Benedict, on the sofa, Scott Leon Smith standing behind them, and Joe Buttram and Mimi Rice at the phone. |
By ROBERT HICKS
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 31, 2002
American Stage's new comedy, Over the River and Through the Woods, explores the touching relationships of modern and old world generations. Even though the grandparents can be as strong-willed as any, says the playwright, the family displays love and joy for each other.
|
 |
Growing up in northern New Jersey, Joe DiPietro was close to his grandparents, a relationship that helped him gain a sense of self and an appreciation for family life.
It also helped him find his voice as a playwright.
"My playwrighting voice is comic. I'd have trouble writing just a straight drama," he said from New York. "More importantly, my grandparents had a very humorous, joyous view on life. There was always laughing going on in their household. They made me laugh and it's always been something I wanted to share."
DiPietro's comedy Over the River and Through the Woods, which runs Friday through Nov. 24 at American Stage, is a touching tale about 29-year-old Nick and his relationship with his four grandparents. It starts out like an Italian sitcom, but slowly builds in dramatic suspense until its surprise ending.
"When I was young, I thought everyone knew their grandparents," he said. As I got older, I realized it was kinda unique to know your grandparents in this day and age. I decided to write about them."
Nick (Scott Leon Smith) is a Manhattan marketing executive whose only close relatives are his grandparents. Ambitious and unfettered by family responsibilities, Nick still has dinner with his grandparents every Sunday in Hoboken, N.J.
Frank and Aida Gianelli are a quiet immigrant couple full of strong old world values. Frank (Joe Buttram) immigrated to America when he was 14 and his motto remains tengo famiglia, which literally means "I have a family," but denotes manhood, responsibility and a raison d'etre. He firmly believes in the three F's: family, faith and food.
His wife Aida (Mimi Rice) has a motto, too: Mangia! Mangia! Every Sunday, she thinks everyone is hungry enough to eat all the tiramisu, gnocchi and veal in her house.
Nick's paternal grandparents, Nunzio (Richard Rice) and Emma (Anne Benedict), loudly and constantly debate pointless anecdotes. Nunzio has pancreatic cancer, but decides not to tell Nick, even though doing so might help keep Nick in Manhattan. Emma, meanwhile, doubts whether they've really given Nick a better life in America.
"Both sets of grandparents have the same values and they come from the same place," said DiPietro. "They don't mean to be so meddling and overbearing in certain ways, but that's just the way they are. Nick loves them. I think the conceit of the play is that even though they are family and can drive you crazy like any family, they are a functional family, not a dysfunctional family. They love each other and that makes leaving that much more difficult."
Nick has received a promotion and is ready to move to Seattle. The grandparents argue, coax, cajole and generally try to make Nick feel guilty about moving across the country. They even connive to introduce him to an unattached nurse, Caitlin O'Hare (Mary-Lynn Ring), hoping a romance will keep Nick at home.
"I tried to capture, not only the generation gap between a younger person and older people, but the story of a modern guy who is the descendent of people with a very old world approach," DiPietro said.
"I think immigrants of that generation came over expecting a better life for themselves and their families and they got it, but they didn't foresee other consequences," he said. "They didn't understand that the children and the grandchildren would grow up very removed from the family-centered life that they were used to and expected in Italy."
* * *
PREVIEW: Over the River and Through the Woods, Friday through Nov. 24, American Stage, 211 Third St. S, St. Petersburg. 7:30 p.m. Thur., 8 p.m. Fri., 3 and 8 p.m. Sat. (no matinee Nov. 2), 3 p.m. Sun., 7:30 p.m. Wed. $20-$28. (727) 823-7529.
Back to Weekend
© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
|
