The O’Conner Girls – Scripps Ranch TheatreI
really didn’t belong there. I wasn’t invited. I didn’t know
these women. I felt like a voyeur observing the most intimate
moments of a family’s life. It was that real. But it was really
Katie Forgette’s play The O’Conner Girls on
the stage of Scripps Ranch Theatre.
Mother Sarah O’Conner, D’Ann Paton, and daughters Liz
and Martha, Aimee Nelson and Kelly Lapczynski,
have just returned from the funeral of husband and father, Tom.
They have already begun the arduous task of sorting through his
many boxes of memorabilia. What to save? What to give away? What
to throw away? Pawing through this mess provides occasional
insights and certainly memories. What we leave behind tells much
about our values.
Twins Liz and Martha couldn’t possibly be more different. Liz
is a beauty trying desperately to retain being 20 in a body
knocking on 40. Martha has reached maturity maturely. Liz is a
thrice-married wiz California real estate salesperson. Never
married Martha has taken leave for the last year from her
unglamourous job to tend to her ailing father and aid her
stressed mother. One commonality is their love for classic films
of the fifties and before, which they saw as kids. They are
often challenging each other with single lines from their
favorites.
Sarah shows an amazing level of resolve. His last year had
been a very tough year for her and Martha. We meet bubbly Aunt
Margie, Meghan Kaheny, part Catholic yenta, and
hyperactive about everything. She is a perfect counterpoint to
revelations of relationships we are about to experience
concerning the O’Conner family. Painfully shy Dr. David Stevens,
Daniel Kosoy, a family friend, himself in transition,
reveals his true feelings after several fitful attempts.
While playwright Forgette provides enlightening
dialog, these five actors bring The O’Conner Girls
to life, a life so convincing it becomes our reality. It is
indeed exciting to see actors so together in their roles and
relationships, that it is no longer acting. Paton slowly
peels away the life and marital relationship of Sarah. One feels
Sarah‘s frustration. Nelson, whose character is the great
deceiver, shows a level of pain seldom seen on the stage.
Lapczynski, in her best role to date, subtly brings Martha’s
internal depth to the surface in moments of enlightenment.
Kaheny, as Aunt Margie, consistently burst through the thick
structure of the Irish Roman Catholic background of her sister,
giving fresh air in a beclouded environment. One does not
mention the Lord’s name without a Catholic chant. It is
Kosoy’s Dr. Stevens, the outsider, who brings a strange bit
of light and love to the group.
Forgette has forged a powerful family drama. There is
somebody in the group that almost everybody can identify with.
She also brought closure in a delightfully charming way to the
death of Tom. She brought hope to those to move on with their
lives. While the end works for the story, it lacks just a bit of
drama. The last scene is worth the price of admission in a play
where just about every scene should receive the same accolade.
What a cast!
Cast
D’Ann Paton, Aimee Nelson, Kelly Lapczynski, Megan Keheny,
Daniel Kosoy
Technical Staff
Producer Barbara Barber, AD/SM Brandy Luscalzo-Stemen, Set
Designer Ted Crittenden, Lighting Designer Mitchell Simkovsky,
Sound Designer Jim Caputo, Prop Master Debbie Blue, Costume
Designer Tyra Beatty, Tech Sharon Boskovich
Critic: Robert Hitchcox
Total Rating: Three and a half stars
Genre: Drama
Author: Katie Forgette
Director: Charlie Riendeau
Date Reviewed: November 16, 2007
Dates: Weekends thru December 8, 2007
Running Time: 107 minutes with one 15-minute intermission
Scripps Ranch Theatre
Legler Benbough Theatre, Alliant International University,
10455 Pomerado Road
San Diego, CA
Box Office Phone 858 578-7728
