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A gender-swapped adaption of a classic broadway play turned iconic 70s television sitcom is set to take to the stage in Timaru at the end of the month.
Starting October 30, the South Canterbury Drama League’s Repertory and Little Theatre sections are staging Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple — Female Version at the Playhouse.
The original play debuted on broadway in 1965 with the mismatched room-mate characters of Felix Unger and Oscar Madison later being revived in a successful 1970s television series.
Simon then adapted his play in 1985 to create a female version set in 1980s New York with the lead characters transformed into Florence Unger and Olive Madison.
Director Alice Sollis said it was a play she had wanted to stage after accidentally coming across the script last year.
“Sharleyne [Diamond] and I had been looking for a play for a fundraiser at St Mary’s Church. We were reading scripts and came across this one.
“We got through Act One and both said ‘this is one for the Playhouse’.
“I really wanted to stage it because it was such a good, fun script, so I touted it over a year ago to the Little Theatre Repertory and asked for this slot.”
She said it was fun tackling the female version of the classic comedy.
“People might think it’s a weaker version but actually when you google the comparison between the two, the general thumb is that this is a better script. It’s also a little bit more modern, whereas the male one was of the time and a bit dated.
“This script is much more relevant to today, so I think the audience can relate to it more. I think the 70s one was probably a bit more misogynistic, which I particularly wouldn’t like.”
Sollis said it was great to have Americans Suzan Anderson and Michele Keggenhoff as Olive and Florence.
“We were doing Come From Away, and Susan came in and said, ‘I really want to audition for that’ and then I had Michele, who had been in Gaslight, come to me and go, ‘I really want to audition’.
“It was great to have two Americans, who are also really good actresses wanting to be involved and then when we auditioned them they basically cast themselves.
“I asked them ‘which one do you want to be?’ because they were good enough to be either. Suzan said she wanted to be Olive who was messy and the least like her and then Michele said she wanted to be Florence because she’s neurotic and tidy which is least like her.
“I knew I could swap them around and they’d be great but now I can’t it see because they are so embedded in their characters. They are both working really well.”
She likened the core themes of the play to the musical Wicked.
“Much like Elphaba and Glinda it’s about this relationship. There’s all the bells and whistles and everything around it but at the heart it’s two friends.
“This play is about two friends who should never, ever live together, but somehow do because they’re friends and it all turns to custard.
“The audience will be thoroughly entertained … it’s very fast and very funny but it also has its moments of pathos.”
Performances will be held at 7.30pm, October 30-31 and November 4-7 with a 2pm matinee also held on November 1.
Tickets are available from iticket.co.nz.