There’s a new version of The Odd Couple, Neil Simon’s hit comedy, now playing at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. In this version, the ladies have taken over in a gender-swapped take on the Broadway classic.
Simon wrote the play in 1965 when it first premiered in New York. It was based on his brother and brother’s roommate who, despite being great friends, were incompatible as roommates. That traditional version was performed at the Oakville Centre by Burloak Theatre’s first season, back in 1977.
“The play is about incompatibility - that’s why Neil Simon wrote it,” says director Angie Fyke, also playing Renee in the cast. “This version is the same play, but showing real women as friends and sometimes having trouble being together.”
The humour between main characters Olive (Mary Pat McBride) and Florence’s (Kimberly Jonasson) wild differences is still the core of the show. But what makes it funny? “It’s fun because we see real women having real fun and having real conversations on stage,” explains Fyke.
It was 20 years after the show premiered when Simon revised the play to put women front and centre. This new version, now playing in Oakville, switches the six men and two women into each other’s shoes.
Rounding out the cast is Maria Michelli, Wendy Oughtred and Harriet Karch as Olive and Florence’s close friends. The two men, Ryan Perera and Ivan Radulovic, play the Costazuela brothers (replacing the Pigeon sisters.)
Co-producer Cheryl Cartwright says, while the play is similar to the original, Simon didn’t make an identical copy. “Everyone knows the male version, but it’s somewhat different with women in the parts,” she says. “It’s also different from the 70s TV series, but after we did it in the 70s, it was perfect for us to bring it back.”
Both Fyke and Cartwright say the show is perfect for a date night, girl’s night, or a fun night out for anyone wanting to laugh. Regardless of the cast’s genders, the humour is what makes the play universally funny.
Even so, there’s something special about letting the ladies take centre stage. “Its important to remind both women and men that women are still fighting for a presence,” says Fyke. “It was rewritten in the 80s, but it highlights women today.”
The Odd Couple (Female Version) is presented by the Burloak Theatre Group. It plays the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts, 130 Navy Street, until this Sunday, January 26th. Tickets are available online or at (905)-338-4161.