A "GOLDFISH" BOWL OF FAMILY EMOTIONS AT NEW HAVEN THEATER COMPANY

Goldfish are also valuable for experimentation about vision, memory, psychology and skin cancer. All that being said, it is ironic, to me, that playwright John Kolvenbach chose “Goldfish” as the title of his newest play being offered by the New Haven Theater Company until Saturday, March 11. “Goldfish” centers itself around two families, a father and son and a mother and daughter. It is the children of college age who are the mature adults looking after their parents, Nick Fetherston’s Albert tries to structure his father Leo’s life as he goes off to college in another state. He knows his dad, a tormented and weak John Strano, has serious challenges, not the least of which is an addiction to gambling, and he puts financial roadblocks in place to make sure Leo does not sabotage their future. At school Albert, a loner, becomes enamored with Lucy, an outspoken and friendly Sara Courtmanche and their tentative courtship blossoms into love. Enter Lucy’s inflexible mom Margaret, as created by Sandra E. Rodriguez, who has a fantastically unusual tale about Lucy’s dad, a father who is not in the family portrait any longer. What happens when Leo goes off track and Margaret stays adamantly fixated will have you shaking your head in sadness. Can this young couple overcome their heritage and find happiness together? Come discover for yourself in this dramatic portrayal of family directed by John Watson. For tickets ($20), go online to newhaventheatercompany.com at New Haven Theater Company, 839 Chapel Street, New Haven at the English Building Market. Performances are Thursday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m, Friday, March 10 at 8 p.m, and Saturday , March 11 at 8 p.m. Enter the lives of these two families as they strive to thrive in emotionally challenging times.