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“Weekend Comedy” will make you laugh
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Jill and Tony are upset that another couple is using their cabin while Frank argues with Peggy on how this could have happened.
Marco Players Theater
1055 North Collier Boulevard, Marco Island, FL
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Get ready for a night of many laughs at the Marco Players Theater. Their latest production of “Weekend Comedy” written by Jeanne and Sam Bobrick opened Wednesday and will continue through March 6.
The scene is a secluded cabin in the woods where Frank and Peggy Jackson decide to take a three-day weekend vacation to get away from it all.
They are in their mid-50s and are prepared to relax and have fun. Unfortunately, Frank isn’t thrilled with the idea of no radio, television, newspaper, or telephone. But Peggy has other ideas. She’s looking to have a romantic weekend and approaches Frank in a negligee. As they are lying on the couch kissing and hugging, the front door opens and Jill and Tony, a young couple who have been staying at the cabin every year for the past three years, walk in. The real estate agent made a grave error that ultimately turns the weekend into a lot of soul searching and very funny lines between the four characters.
Peggy and Frank are shocked to see them and vice versa. So who is going to stay at the cabin for the weekend? During the course of the play, Frank invites them to stay overnight and he and Peggy end up sleeping in the living room on a sofa bed. Tony and Jill are sleeping in the bedroom together and Frank is shocked to find out they aren’t married.
Tony drives a Porsche and is very rich. He and Jill have done extensive traveling while Frank, on the other hand, lives a very sedentary life with his wife and thinks he is happy with the way things are.
Becker gives an excellent performance as Frank. When he has to use the bathroom very badly the first morning, he paces back and forth and one can’t help but believe he really needs to. It was a hysterical scene as is the entire play with not only funny asides, but some surprises as well.
This isn’t the first time Becker has performed with the Marco Players. He’s been in “Over the River and Through the Woods,” “Saving Grace,” “Love, Sex and the IRS,” and “Who Murdered Marsha?” He’s also performed in eight plays for the Naples Players and has done three plays with Stage 88 in Bonita Springs.
“This is my nighttime hobby. I think this play will go over very well for our type of audience because there is a generational conflict which I’m sure everyone attending has experienced at some point in their lives. It’s also very funny and we have a great cast,” Becker said.
Dan Kimball (Tony) performs exclusively for the Marco Players. He’s appeared in “Jewel Thieves,” “Flora Pasquale Strikes Back,” “Murder on the Rerun,” and “Don’t Dress for Dinner.” Dan works during the day and performs at night. He handles his generation’s role quite well.
Katherine Ebaugh’s character, Jill, is a sweet girl who loves Tony and wants him to marry her. That’s only one area where the different generations’ thought processes tangle.
Ebaugh has quite a background for someone so young. She started doing theater camp at the University of Miami in third grade.
“Since then, I’ve done work for PBS doing voiceovers and commercials and have done modeling. Theater-wise, I’ve helped direct and choreograph ‘Annie’ for St. John Newman and I was an assistant director and choreographer for the first year of the Marco Island YMCA Theater Camp doing three of their shows. Since then, I’ve been acting and am currently a cosmetology student. I play the more optimistic person of the group,” Ebaugh stated.
Bonnie Knapp wears two hats in this play. First she is the director. Then, when two of the actors left, she took on one of the roles, that of Peggy Jackson.
“It was definitely a challenge doing the two things as the same time,” Knapp said. Her acting ability is very evident and she said she still takes acting and improvisation classes.
Not new to the Players, Knapp directed their play, “Saving Grace” several years ago.
“My other theatrical work has mostly been at the Sugden Theater in Naples where I did 14 shows. ‘Mame’ was the last one. I also assisted directing ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ performed at the Naples Dinner Theater and also Theater Zone,” Knapp added.
The theater set design is professionally done and seems to get better with every play. Lori Lucas, a technician for the Players, was responsible for acquiring the furniture most of which were donated. She and Patty Zeisig did the painting to make the inside walls look like a log cabin. The set, the actors, the comedy all make this play worthwhile seeing.
“Weekend Comedy” is performed every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be obtained by calling 642-7270. The box office is open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

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