Review: 'The Octette Bridge Club' at Phoenix Stage Company

Dedicated to my sister, Christine and all sisters who support each other

Oakville, CT - The Phoenix Stage Company continues their season with a work by P.J. Barry called THE OCTETTE BRIDGE CLUB on the Saturday before Labor Day. This sentimental play features many roles for more mature actresses and director Agnes Dann has assembled a stellar cast of local community theatre veterans to fill them. Ms. Dann, a founding member of the PSC who directed LOVE LETTERS and two one-act plays for PSC One-Act Festivals, has directed this piece with loving care. Her sense of pride for the cast that includes her real-life daughter was evident; at the box office, the director suggested a seat further back than I usually choose. I was glad that I took her advice because the highest back row allowed me to appreciate the careful blocking of the eight members of this family while still being able to enjoy the fabulous wigs, costumes and set decoration.

Click here to listen to the podcast of Agnes Dann and Ed Bassett's appearance on WZBG's Backstage with Eric

Set in nearby Providence, RI, the action focuses on eight sisters of Irish descent who meet on alternate Friday evenings to play bridge and mostly gossip. At the beginning of the first act, the women pose for a photograph for the Sunday rotogravure section of the local newspaper taken by the lone male actor in the cast. The two scenes in that first act take place in October 1934, and the second act is set just prior to Halloween ten years later when each woman acts out their costume’s persona. The emotionally fragile youngest sister Betsy (played to perfection by Ms. Dann’s daughter Emily Diedrich) comes dressed as Salome. She has just been released from a sanitarium and she realizes that she must cut the bonds to her smothering family and bravely strike out on her own.

I was the oldest. I was trained to be bossy. - Martha in THE OCTETTE BRIDGE CLUB by P.J. Barry

Helen Adams (THE COVER OF LIFE, THE CEMETERY CLUB, STEEL MAGNOLIAS) embodies Martha, the widowed eldest sister, who is known for her sense of responsibility and stern personality. The actress understands the importance of balancing the stern exterior with the pain her character has endured. KC Ross (THE HALLELUJAH GIRLS) plays the sister Ann, who is married to a man who drinks too much; she is the no-nonsense schoolteacher who hosts the two bridge nights ten years apart.

Beth Steinberg (MACBETH,A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE) is achingly accurate as Mary Margaret, a spinster who lives with her younger sister Alice and her husband Walter, who have no children. In the second act, Mary Margaret uses a wheelchair and has a slight speech impediment due to a stroke; Ms. Steinberg mastered the effects of the stroke that her character has endured. Sheree Marcucci, the Marketing and Public Relations Officer for Waterbury’s Palace Theater, does admirable work in her PSC debut in the role of the solicitous Alice. Included in the OCTETTE program was a trifold insert about the Palace Theater’s upcoming 2ND ACT Life Stories series, described as “stories by ordinary people doing extraordinary things that will inspire YOU to write your own.”

The wonderful Teresa Alexandru (DEATH BY FATAL MURDER, FEMALE TRANSPORT) takes on the role of Nora, an easy-going woman greatly devoted to her husband Lawrence and their children. Chrissy Flynn (STEEL MAGNOLIAS) displays her usual strong comic timing in the role of middle sister Connie, who is always quick with a wisecrack.

Deborah Goodman (JELLOFISH and 13 other PSC productions) makes her mark in the role of Lil; she is perfectly cast as the free spirit sister who sings and plays piano and should have been on the stage. Ms. Diedrich (THE COVER OF LIFE, THE LAST FIVE YEARS at PSC, WHITE GUY ON A BUS at Square One) as the baby of the group captures the attention of the audience in the role of Betsy Bailey, a melancholy married woman with two children who is clearly struggling to find her own identity in the shadow of her seven sisters.

I always want to thank family and friends, but this time I want to say how proud I am not only to be able to watch my mom work in her true directorial debut but to be cast and take her direction! #gomom - Emily Diedrich in her program bio

Lest we forget the only male member of the cast, Joshua Gogol (REBEL YELLS) returns to this stage to play Robert Foster, the newspaper photographer who gets the women to establish the basics of their characters at the top of the show. Some might wish that the characters of the women were more defined as the bridge games were played, but that may have been too difficult for the author with a family this size.

The costumes designed by founding member of PSC Ed Bassett were well-fitted and perfect for the thirties and forties time period, as were the flattering wigs that matched references in the script. Mr. Bassett was also once again in charge of the set design and worked with Production Manager Lori Poulin on both set decoration and props. Everything brought us to the time period, including the incidental music.

The only drawback to sitting in the last row of the middle side of this three-sided stage was an adult couple sitting nearby who sometimes forgot that they were not a home and spoke loudly to each other during parts of the first act. I am sure that those seated nearby found it annoying at best and were grateful that it decreased as the play progressed.

Next up at the PSC will be THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE directed by John Long running Oct. 13 - 29, 2018. Coming up on Friday, Sept. 21 will be ‘Let’s Have a Ball!” to celebrate the 8th anniversary of the Phoenix Stage Company. The ball gets rolling at 7:30pm and will include, as always, the announcement of the 2018-2019 season. The food theme for this year will of course be balls, as in cake balls, cheese balls, meatballs, and anything the creative mind of the cook can imagine. Trust me that this evening is always a great time and attendees are the first to know what the PSC has planned for next season.

Nancy Sasso Janis Photo by J. Timothy Quirk

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. Follow the reviewer on her Facebook pages Nancy Sasso Janis: Theatre Reviewer and on Twitter @nancysjanis417