THD Production Spotlight: "The Odd Couple"

By ALEX NOVAK

The Odd Couple throws a lot at audiences. Thankfully, stale potato chips and plates of spaghetti (or linguini) are only tossed at other cast members.

This Theatre and Dance Student Directed Series (SDS) production sets out to redefine divorce. Divorce isn’t sad or painful, in The Odd Couple, it’s a barrel of laughs!

The show — opening this weekend on Feb. 23 and 24 — sees tight-laced neat-freak Felix Ungar (played by James Gallagher) thrown out of the house by his wife. After a bout of hysteria, Felix winds up moving in with his long-time friend, carefree slob and fellow divorcé Oscar Madison (played by Alex Louis).

“Felix is a dramatic, over-the-top, ridiculous character who is very, very nervous all of the time. He’s constantly crying and making a big deal of things,” Gallagher, a freshman occupational therapy major, said.

“Oscar’s a happy-go-lucky guy who doesn't have a care in the world,” Louis, a freshman music theatre major, said. “He lives life to the fullest and takes it one day at a time, which I love because it's something I'm trying to incorporate into my day-to-day life.”

The mismatched pair’s de facto “marriage” has a remarkably short honeymoon period before the two begin to butt heads. The resulting comedy — filled with awkward neck rubs and laughably bad first dates — stems from the characters being each other’s nightmare roommate.

“The Odd Couple isn't going to be for everyone. It may strike a nerve for somebody who's had a bad roommate in their life,” Louis joked.

“You can be great friends with someone and not great roommates,” Julia Witt, the show’s director and a senior theatre performance major, added.

Witt manages a script chock full of innuendo and the demands of slapstick comedy. A first-time director, she chose The Odd Couple while binge-watching old films with her mother during the pandemic. She used to watch the show with her parents, but when Witt saw the film adaptation, she was sold.

Still though, Neil Simon’s original play of The Odd Couple was written in 1965, over a half-century ago, so it contains a lot of potentially sexist punchlines.

“It's interesting to have a female director on this show,” Witt shared. “Particularly because it's super male-oriented. And I almost find that it works a little better because I can bring out the misogyny in a tasteful way, because I genuinely think it's important to the show.”

Part of Witt’s efforts to modernize The Odd Couple revolve around fostering a collaborative space for her actors to explore this zany story and their quirky characters.

“It's such a nice and welcoming environment where everybody is comfortable performing and volleying off of each other,” Crissy Iglesias-Baires, cast member and a freshman theatre performance major, said. “And I really admire a space where we're able to make mistakes and make choices.”

For many, including Witt, the student-run rehearsal process was not only a collective effort, but also an uplifting experience.

“[The show] is laugh out loud funny, in my opinion, and it's just really nice slapstick and clean humor, and I think it would make anyone's day,” Witt said. “There's been a few rehearsals where I've walked in sad, and I'm not sad anymore walking out because it's just a lot of fun.”

Goofy screaming matches, unexpected projectiles and absurd domestic quarrels aside, the show is defined not only by comedy, but also its heart. Even though Felix and Oscar drive each other insane, there’s a meaning behind the madness.

“I think the show’s message is to not take what you have in life for granted,” Louis said. “And don't be so easy to give up on or lose faith in friendships, even if they drive you crazy."

Freelance writer Alex Novak is a senior English major, with a minor in theatre performance.