Will Rice Will Make You Laugh: The Odd Couple

By Adrian Frimpong and Joe Dwyer     4/17/08 7:00pm

The Will Rice Players' production of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple may sound like an unassuming little play, but it manages to deliver a highly entertaining experience for fans of comedy and drama alike.Written for Broadway in 1965, the play centers on a man named Oscar who has been divorced for some time and lives alone in an eight-room apartment. He decides to take in his friend Felix, who has recently separated from his own wife. Eventually, their polar-opposite personalities begin to clash, and this conflict forms the humorous centerpiece of The Odd Couple.

In a show with little action and no musical numbers, the strength of the presentation lies solely in the believability of the actors, and they perform admirably. Each character has his or her unique quirks, and the play especially shines when the whole cast is onstage.

Raines Taylor (Will Rice '06) plays Oscar, messy, and cynical, yet lovable, who uses weekly poker night with his friends as an opportunity to scrounge up enough cash to pay for the alimony checks to his wife and kids. Taylor is obviously very comfortable in the character's role and is able to play both the caring and carefree sides of his character with ease, giving advice one moment and yelling in frustration the next.

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Oscar's foil is played by Rice music graduate student Robert Trussell, who brings the whiny, uptight, clean-freak Felix to life. He scrooges over Oscar's finances, insists on cooking meals as opposed to eating out and transforms the apartment from a greasy bachelor pad into a sparkling abode. Like Taylor's, Trussell's role also fits him like a glove, and as a result, the two together onstage are very enjoyable to watch.

While the play loses some steam during these one-on-one spots, the supporting cast ensures that the excitement is never too far away. Oscar's poker buddies - Speed, Vinnie, Murray the cop and Roy the accountant (Will Rice College freshmen Nathan L. Ross, Kyung Oh, Justin Lin and Abhishek

Nag) - are a motley crew of jokesters who provide support and advice for Oscar at various points throughout the play, as well as plenty of comic relief for the audience. In addition, Will Rice freshmen Amara DiFrancesco and Kelsey Zottnick play Gwendolyn

and Cecily Pigeon, two British hotties who live just a few floors beneath Oscar's room. Not only do they perform with energy, but their British accents are spot-on and never get old, thanks to dialect coach Katelyn Willis, a Will Rice junior.

The set, designed by Shepherd School Technical Director Troy McLaughlin, perfectly emulates an everyday apartment. It includes doors for the kitchen, restroom and entry; shelves stocked with books; a record player; a couch and even an old-fashioned television set, making it apparent that much work went into its construction.

The Will Rice Players have poured their time and effort into this production, and it definitely shows. Comedy fans will love the play for its witty and smart dialogue, drama fans will love the play for its engaging and sometimes emotional exchanges between

Oscar and Felix, and even the average Rice student will laugh at some of the hidden Easter eggs in the script or the different characters' antics onstage. The Odd Couple should appeal to almost any taste, no matter how messy the eater.

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