Play Review
Five's a crowd in Stage Door play
By Sally Carpenter sallyc@theacorn.com

ALL IN THE FAMILY- Helena and George Butler, back row (reallife couple Gale Trumbeaux and Mike Monteleone) are frazzled when their parents (Jackie Goldberg, Michael Jay Aronovitz, Nancy Solomons) come to live with them during Stage Door Theater's comedy "Alone Together, Again." The play runs weekends through March 24. For reservations, call (818) 889-5209.

In Hollywood, a boffo movie is often followed with a sequel that cashes in on marquee value. Recently, playwrights have hit on this idea as well, revisiting the old characters of their popular shows with new scripts.

Stage Door's current comedy is a sequel to the 1984 "Alone Together" by Lawrence Roman, which the theater produced about two years ago. In that play, George and Helena Butler, played by a local married couple, Mike Monteleone and Gale Trumbeaux, anticipate spending more time together now that their three grown sons have finally left the nest. But one by one, the "children" come back home to roost and drive their parents crazy.

Now we have Roman's "Alone Together, Again," which picks up the action shortly after the first play ends. The sons are gone but the Butlers face a new problem- now their aged parents are camping out in the boys' bedrooms.

The show opens with Helena excited about an offer to restart her art career and present a onewoman show at a prestigious art gallery. With her sons gone, she's eager to paint again- until her ditzy father (Michael Jay Aronovitz) shows up in need of housing because he and his wife of 50-plus years, Ruth (Jackie Goldberg), are having a "trial separation."

Pop, almost 80 years old, obsesses over modern technology. Helena can't get to her artwork, not with Pop's plans to build his own metal man in the house and Ruth phoning every five minutes to check up on her hubby (but why doesn't she call Pop on his cellphone?)

Then George's widowed mother, Grace (Nancy Solomons), needs to a place to stay while her house is fumigated. She's a chatterbox who drones endless about her friends' medical conditions.

And just when Helena is ready to erupt, Ruth shows up with a suitcase, complaining she can't handle a trial separation alone at home.

Monteleone and Trumbeaux are back in their original roles and they make a nice pair of opposites. Trumbeaux as Helena is an overly tense worrier; Monteleone is cool and calm. He's also a procrastinator who can't find the "right moment" to ask- no, tell- the beloved parents to move out.

When the two sit down to talk over the situation, they start to analyze their own marriage. What begins as "clearing the air" turns ugly.

Act 1 i s p r e t t y l i g h t hearted, but Act 2 gets under the characters' skins as we l e a r n what's r e a l l y on everyone's mind. Trumbeaux simmers down from her hysteria of Act 1 and has a tender moment with her husband as she reveals a longheld secret. To say more would be a spoiler except to mention that everything ties up quickly and sweetly at the end.

Monteleone is sufficiently bemused as easygoing, goodnatured George. Goldberg is snappy and sassy as the wife who loves Pops in spite of his high maintenance and who shops for cashmere sweaters when she's upset, which is often. (But why don't we see her wearing one?) Aronovitz seems too spry to be 80 years old, but he is amusing. Solomons is effective as the nice, loving homebody mom.

The play has plenty of laughs but the whole premise- the difficult situation, parents living with their children- seems lacking. The parents aren't annoying, but rather pleasant. They're out of the house most of the time and rarely underfoot. Perhaps more complications, personality clashes, or a homebound parent who needed constant care would raise the stakes and make a more dynamic conflict.

Still, the play makes good observations about aging, family dynamics and communication between couples. Honestly is indeed the best policy, but as George and Helena find out, the truth can both hurt and heal.

John Barker directed the show and does a good job of moving his actors about on the tiny stage.

The show runs about two hours. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. through March 24, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sun., March 11. The theater is at 28311 Agoura Road, Agoura. For reservations, call (818) 889-5209.