With a sense of wit and whimsy, the Stray Kats Theatre Company of Newtown is encouraging the more mature senior members of society that they are invited to be "Still Crazy After All These Years!" The company recently performed a series of eight one act plays in Newtown and at Whitney Center in Hamden to great applause.
A year ago co-producers and co-directors Tom Coash and Kate Katcher wondered if there were plays available for an older and more experienced cast of actors. They put a call out for submissions and were delighted to receive them in the hundreds. Carefully culling the contributions, they settled on a menu of eight that center on love and marriage and all the myriad problems contained therein for those over sixty-five.
With a troupe of a dozen talented actors - T. J. Chila, Stephanie Lloyd Ficarra, Dave Gant, Maggi Heilweil, Eric Larson, John Moran, Bob Ponturo, Nancy Ponturo, Patty Shea, Kimberly Squires, Don Striano and Allan Zeller- the races were off and running.
In "Back Fire" by David Lee White, a man and woman meet after four decades ago in high school and finally engage in all the fantasies they were afraid to do way back when. A series of discoveries after the deed is done put an alarming spin on their indulgences.
A uniquely different idea of retirement is explored in "Second Career" by Ellen Margolis when a woman takes on the commercial world as her own personal Complaint Department. A broken watch band, a non-functioning smoke detector, a damaged shoe, where she holds companies accountable, have now become a full time job. DSW, watch out!
Hobbies can be great unless yours is to possess such oddities as "Albert Einstein's Brain" by Ron Burch. A long suffering wife may be indulgent of hubby's strange passion for the quirky but she may have to draw the line here and now.
What would you do if you were a witness to a crime? In "Action and Reaction" by joel Doty, the husband sits by and watches, watches in alarm as his wife bravely and foolishly jumps in the fray to stop the assault.
To rekindle a marriage where the flames have been extinguished, a couple embark on an adventure to India, at great expense, in "Kamasutra" by Tom Coash. Doris is willing to go to great lengths to awaken Harold's sleeping libido.
A cancelled credit card causes no end of confusion and problems in "Funny Valentine" by Kaye Soliton when a couple on a cruise find their souvenir shopping in serious jeopardy.
When empty nesters watch their son leave home for college, the husband finds himself suddenly "Splitting Hares" by Brett Hursey. He starts identifying with long earred, carrot eating bunnies as a coping mechanism.
Planning for the future quickly becomes an obsessive occupation as two men, Jack and John, meet with a funeral arranger in "Planning Ahead" by Kate Katcher. Cremation, a party and a Hefty bag are all up for consideration.
To discover where or when "Still Crazy After All These Years!" will appear next, go to www.straykatstheatrecompany.org or call 203-514-2221. The company, founded in 2003, is a not-for-profit professional theatre company with a mission of presenting contemporary classics, radio shows from the golden age of radio and new works.
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