Sunday, June 16, 2013

In the Rest Room at Rosenblooms

Friday night we went to Theatre in the Round to see "In the Rest Room at Rosenblooms" by Ludmilla Bollow.  I'd liken it to something like The Golden Girls, but without all the obvious one-liners and a disturbing theme about getting old and not being able to let go of the past.

Myrah, Violet, and Winifred are three elderly women who meet in the department store restroom consistently, and each is facing a personal issue.  Myrah is losing her health.  Violet is losing her house (more accurately, all her money).  And Winifred is losing her mind, a slow process that started when her husband died in the war 40 years earlier.  They band together to combat Winnifred's sister Clare who wants to take Winnifred back to her dog kennel where she's good at training both dogs and humans, and she can make sure Winnfred is safe (and potentially sell Winnifred's house and leverage her war widow pension).  Clare is tenacious and accounts for much of the humor in the show. She reminded me of the paperboy in Better Off Dead with John Cusak, except her $2.00 is Winnifred.  At the end of the play (spoiler!) Clare is tied up in the bathroom with an old fur coat, still trying to get her hands on Winnifred (who has agreed to go with her, but doesn't end the play with Clare).

The actresses did a wonderful job, and Maggie Bearmon Pistner was particularly good as Myrah.


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