For a fun night out, Theatre Palisades is staging Neil Simon’s ‘Chapter Two’ at the Pierson Playhouse, 941 Temescal Canyon Road. The romantic comedy continues through (aptly enough) February 14. ‘Chapter Two’ is a tale of two singles. The story, like its set, is bifurcated to present two characters on a collision course. The widower George Schneider (Philip Bartolf) is a professional writer who recently lost Barbara, his wife of 12 years. ‘For a living, I write spy novels,’ he says. ‘For posterity, I write good novels.’ Despite his own marital problems, his brother Leo (Dan Adams) is insistent on trying to fix up George. ‘Leo, I’m busy,’ George quips. ‘I’ve written 300 pages of my new book and I don’t have a story yet.’ Meanwhile, actress Jennie Malone (Christel Smith) has no appetite to date. The listless divorc’e informs her pushy friend, Faye (Lisa Cicchetti), that she will instead visit her folks in Cleveland for ‘a couple of days, a couple of weeks.’ ‘In Cleveland, a couple of days is a couple of weeks,’ Faye counters. George’s mistaken call to Jennie evolves into a first date, which speeds into a relationship. And that’s when things get complicated, as George’s love for his beloved Barbara casts a shadow over this new relationship, despite Jennie’s infinite patience. So will it work out? Or will George sabotage his second shot at happiness? Produced by Martha Hunter, ‘Chapter Two’ may be the best production mounted by Theatre Palisades in the last couple of years. Director Sherman Wayne stages the action confidently, complementing his clean set and light design. The show benefits from its tight, four-person cast. Bartolf deftly navigates the play’s comedic and dramatic passages. Smith’s interpretation of Jennie is something of a strange bird that takes flight as the show marches on. Adams sparkles as Leo, animating him with a boisterous comic energy reminiscent of characters from a Frank Tashlin movie. Adams and Cicchetti’s comic relief blossoms as Leo and Faye, each saddled with troubled marriages, conduct a clunky affair. ‘I want a girl who looks exactly like you and thinks exactly like me,’ Leo tells his lover. June Lissandrello delivers character-defining wardrobe, most noticeably with Smith’s smart, sexy outfits and Leo’s amusing penchant for zipped-up leather jackets. If there’s one grating element about the play, it’s in Simon’s script, as George becomes somewhat unlikable in act two. George’s concerns sound petty and self-important (particularly juxtaposed against a week in which the Haitian situation dominates the news). The impulse is to tell the guy to get over himself. Ultimately, one chalks George’s behavior up to the howlings of a wounded widower. Besides, Simon’s plays often explore a facet of the author’s life, and writers can be self-absorbed. At a recent show, pre-teens filled the first row. One wonders whether they enjoyed the references to JFK, Margaret Mead, and ‘The African Queen.’ Although there’s little here that could not be aired on television, parents should be aware that ‘Chapter Two’ addresses mature themes. Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Contact: 310-454-1970. Visit theatrepalisades.org.
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