REVIEW

MILT THOMAS

You don’t have to be Italian to fully appreciate the “clash of civilizations” in this delightful family comedy, Over the River and Through the Woods. No, it has nothing to do with the childhood song, but it does take you on a laugh-filled ride “to grandmother’s house we go.”

The play is about Nick making a life-changing announcement to his grandparents, Frank and Aida, Nunzio and Emma, who have gathered for their traditional Sunday family dinner. The setting is Frank and Aida’s family home. Nunzio and Emma, in-laws, close friends and neighbors, have joined them. They are all awaiting grandson Nick’s arrival for the family dinner.

They provide backstory about their lives, the joys and sacrifices, but most of all, the importance of family (“Tengo Famiglia”).  Both sets of grandparents emigrated from Italy as young adults, settled in Hoboken, New Jersey, raised their families and one couple’s daughter married the other couple’s son. They all worked at the same jobs until retirement and had no plans to ever move from their homes or each other.

They can’t understand why their son and daughter, Nick’s parents, retired and moved to Florida, away from their families. Frank is also upset because he just gave up the keys to his car after several low impact accidents.

Nick comes in and after greeting everyone he is excited to make an announcement. But the grandparents keep interrupting him, Frank lamenting his loss of driving privileges, Aida offering to make him a sandwich he doesn’t want and in one of the play’s funniest moments, the grandparents decide they should all play a game they don’t fully understand, Trivial Pursuit. Nick’s frustration builds as they cannot think of the star who played opposite Grace Kelly in High Noon, finally settling on “That actor – the one with the ears.”

Aida brings out the sandwich, insists Nick eat it until he finally explodes and shouts, “This is a one sentence announcement. You don’t have to cater it!”

They quiet down enough for Nick to finally announce he is moving to Seattle for a promotion. The grandparents clearly are in a state of stunned disbelief, that Nick would leave his family, Hoboken and everyone he has ever known, to move a continent away for a job.

Clearly to them, family was everything, family relationships the key to a good life. From that point the generation gap widens, Nick excited about his career and future, while his grandparents talk about their traditional family values (“Tengo Famiglia”), which they consider paramount over all other considerations.

But they come up with a plan they think will surely change Nick’s mind. The next Sunday family dinner includes a lovely young woman, Caitlin, the niece of one grandmother’s canasta partner. That doesn’t provide any sparks other than the ones Nick aims at his grandparents for setting him up.

The jokes almost write themselves as the generational tug of war and miscommunication are a playwright’s Miracle Gro, nurturing comedy that is both familiar, heartwarming and reminiscent of so many real family get-togethers in years past. The audience benefits most from this exchange, recalling personal experiences as both young adults breaking out on their own and as parents counseling their children about doing the same.

In the end, Nick will leave Hoboken and his grandparents will commiserate about it for a while, then go back to enjoying the life they have always known. The play’s ending is about real life, Nick’s grandparents passing the baton so to speak, on to him as we know he will gradually assume their role.

The actors must have each lived the experiences they portray because it is difficult to believe they are, well, actors. John Lagioia and Kate Konigisor playing Frank and Aida and Jon Freda and Marina Re playing Nunzio and Emma are the grandparents. Sid Solomon played Nick and the audience could feel his rising frustration as he tried to tell them his big announcement. In fact, he had plenty to be frustrated about beyond that with Aida constantly offering him food and having to deal with his Italian yentas’ matchmaking.

Over the River and Through the Woods was written by Tony Award-winning playwright, Joe DiPietro, who incidentally also wrote the musical, Memphis, which played at the Riverside Theatre several months ago. Tickets are still available until the final performance on February 21.