Stage Review - Plaza Suite (Renton Civic Theatre)
Stage Review - Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite
Presented By: Renton Civic Theatre - Renton, WA
Show Run: February 16 - March 02, 2024
Date Reviewed: Friday, February 16, 2024 (Opening Night)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
Neil Simon is one of those playwrights, a known entity, with whom we’re all familiar enough to know what we’re going to get when we see one of his shows. Simon’s plays are characterized by humor, yes, but also a decent amount of realism, especially when it comes to his portrayal of relationships. His depictions of marital relationships are most notably accurate and recognizable. That realism is what makes his plays so enjoyable, and what makes his brand of humor, a sophisticated combination of situational comedy, one-liners, and other verbal quips and wisecracks, land so consistently. Plaza Suite is vintage Neil Simon, a funny yet touching examination of three distinct couples, set in the very same room, Suite 719 at The Plaza in New York, but told in a very uniquely Simon way. The playwright designed the show so that each of the couples would be played by the same actors, though in some of the screen (film and TV) adaptations, this model was altered, with varying success, though none work as well as the stage version. Plaza Suite is the latest onstage at Renton Civic Theatre. The show runs through March 2, is directed by Misty Doty, and features Meagan Castillo and Eric Hartley in roles that spotlight their acting flexibility and acuity.
The play is told in three acts, with an intermission between the first and second, and a smaller break before the third, a necessity because this show requires more than just costume changes in between the scenes, it requires character changes. Meagan and Eric are called upon to play three very different couples, in three stories that vary from humorous but heavy, to lighthearted, to laugh out loud funny. Plaza Suite requires an emotional investment before its payoff. The first scene is the story of Sam and Karen Nash. Karen is trying to recreate the couple’s honeymoon, while Sam is busy putting together a deal that he’s been working on for awhile. The two are on completely different pages, and Simon requires that the two at least try to figure out the value of their relationship before the night is out. It starts with a back and forth that seems harmless enough, but it continues to escalate until they both lay everything out on the table. Karen is sarcastic, likes to needle Sam, especially when she thinks he is obfuscating, flirty with a bit of an edge, and mathematically challenged. Sam appears to be a workaholic, seeming to respect his co-workers and his job more than his wife. Before the night is out, the two run the gamut of the emotional spectrum.
Act 2 centers around a man and a woman who used to be a couple, before he went to Hollywood and she got married and started a family. Jesse Kiplinger is a famous Hollywood Producer and decides to look up Muriel Tate, his old flame, while he’s in town scouting directors for his latest film. Jesse clearly has motives, while Muriel seems intrigued, but not altogether interested, at least at the outset. This scene is filled with flirting, innuendo, and a playful back and forth. The characters couldn’t be more different than the Nashes, but neither could the tone. Act 1 gets pretty heavy, and while this second act is also thought provoking, it’s more fun, and funny. Rounding out the show is Act 3, the story of Roy and Norma Hubley, whose daughter Mimsey is about to be married, but is having second thoughts. This scene is the funniest of the three, and closes out the show in a very sweet way. Roy seems concerned about losing the money he spent on the wedding, while Norma is concerned with how this looks, how others’ perceptions of her might be affected. Both ultimately are worried about their daughter, but that manifests a little differently with each. This scene is the payoff for the earlier investment.
It’s clear from these short synopses that both Meagan and Eric are asked to flex their thespian muscles here. For Meagan’s part, her Karen is sarcastic, hurt, angry, resigned, and resolute. Karen and Muriel are both flirty in their own way, but Muriel is a more complex character than she lets on at the beginning of Act 2, a complexity that Meagan handles very well, her performance as layered as the character. If you have the chance to see this show, which of course I recommend, you need to watch Meagan’s face when Eric’s Jesse is talking away in this scene, her expressions add so much to this piece. Finally, her Norma is frantic and panicked, worried about her reputation, her husband, and of course her daughter. It’s a wide range of characterizations, and I really appreciate her agility in portraying each of these, they’re really that different from each other. One of the benefits of having the same actors portray each of these couples is that they develop a chemistry. It’s probably something that Simon built in as a deliberate side effect of his unique way of constructing this story, but whether it is or not, Meagan and Eric definitely have that chemistry on stage together. The importance of this cannot be understated, if only for the playwright’s dialogue, which is highlighted by a lot of quick banter and requires actors to be in sync on timing. In addition to Meagan and Eric handling the dialogue very well, and generating a lot of the show’s humor from their delivery, they also show an astuteness toward physical comedy. There’s not a lot here, and most of it is in the final act, but the pair execute very well when called upon.
Eric’s characters are also varied, though I would argue not quite as much as Meagan’s. That said, he does very well in each of the roles, as the nervous, fidgety, and almost whiny workaholic, the smooth talking Hollywood producer, and the frazzled father trying to keep is financial house together, as well as his family. They’re each different enough, and again he does very well to transition from one to the other when scenes change. Plaza Suite isn’t all just Meagan and Eric, though they’re most certainly the leads here. Leah Shannon and Joshua Erme are here in supporting roles, from Leah’s portrayals of Sam’s secretary (Jean McCormack) in Act 1, Mimsey in Act 3, or as a bellhop in between scenes, to Joshua’s waiter, and Mimsey’s betrothed Borden. The pair are also the in between entertainment, as during intermission and between Acts 2 and 3, they’re the ones who make subtle changes to the set (in character, of course), and garner their own laughs in the process.
Setting the play in the same location at the very least prevents the need for substantial set changes. Plaza Suite is already a bit long at two and a half hours, including a 15-minute intermission, so any opportunity to prevent the slowing down of the show helps, especially when you’re putting up a Neil Simon play, that relies on its pace, in dialogue and movement. Bill Huls has done a nice job with this set, providing a two room suite with all of the amenities, while still allowing for activity outside of the room itself. He’s also constructed it to handle that movement I mentioned. There is a lot of that here, it seems that someone is always moving. Misty has done nice work blocking this show to accentuate that movement, while using every part of Bill’s set to make sure that the audience gets to appreciate the entirety of it. In addition to the set, each member of the creative team has a chance to shine here. Renton Civic has just finished upgrading their lighting system and Jess Gable took advantage of the system’s new capabilities as well as some on set lighting to produce a nice soft look to the set. Ari Nikas’ sound design isn’t altogether complex, but when a phone is called upon to ring, or a buzzer to signal someone at the door, not a beat is missed. Finally, Sean Holser’s costumes are as varied as the characters in the show. The entire color palette of this design, including the set and the costumes screams late 60s, as it should. It’s all nicely done.
Plaza Suite, on stage at Renton Civic Theatre through March 2, is everything we’ve come to expect from a Neil Simon play, and then some. His works are marked by humor and compassion, but more than that they take a real, and yes, sometimes hard look at relationships. Directed by Misty Doty, Plaza Suite stars Meagan Castillo and Eric Hartley in three stories of love, heartbreak, family, and persistence, each building in a crescendo to a finale that is worth all of the emotional heavy lifting that the beginning of the show requires.
Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite runs on stage through March 2 at Renton Civic Theatre. For more information, including ticket availability and purchase, visit https://rentoncivictheatre.org/.
Photo credit: Colin Madison Photo
