David Lindsay Abaire’s wacky, totally charming comedy about
life and death, first love and coping with monumental disappointment is getting
a nearly perfect production from the folks at MOONBOX. KIMBERLY AKIMBO (playing through April 26th) has to embrace a slightly stilted comic style in
order to pull off the absurdity without losing our heartfelt sympathy for this
dysfunctional family—and without
losing sight of the genuine gravity in the play.
And can this family cope! Mother carries on even though she’s
pregnant and accident prone: When we first see her, she sports two wrist casts up
to her elbows from carpal tunnel surgery and she can’t even maneuver a spoon.
Her 15 year old daughter has a rare form of progeria which ages her four and a
half times faster than the rest of us. She has the organs of a sixty-four year
old and her prognosis is dire but she is determined to do everything a teenager
would.
Her father is depressed, poor fellow, and he drinks. And
there’s an aunt who’s just gotten out of prison and turns up on their doorstep
needing money, a place to stay, and accessories to pull off her next felony.
Abaire writes such funny material that you forget about the peril underneath
the humor. Director Allison Olivia Choate gets exceptional performances all
around from her remarkable actors and she manages to pull off a completely
disarming production, so sweet that you don’t even mind the blue language. In
fact you’re amused by it.
MOONBOX is fortunate to have veteran actress Sheridan Thomas
in the role of the plucky teenage daughter. Thomas makes the girl coquettish,
naïve and full of wonder, despite knowing that time is running out. Lucas
Cardona is a delight as her awkward teenaged pal who’s hoping to be more than
friends. Their innocent romance gives us all hope.
Micah Greene is a hoot as the self-absorbed pregnant mother
and Andrew Winson makes father immensely endearing. Shana Dirik is a
firecracker as the recidivist aunt, popping in and out of scenes with endless
energy and wild schemes. Dirik’s performance is a tour de force, exploding with
excitement in brilliant contrast to her niece’s cautionary, slow paced
existence. Choate and company get lovely resonance from the projection at play’s
end, mirroring her childhood lamp.
