Comedy probes ways and woes of love

Jasmine Ryan (left) and Nicola Howard appear in “Weekend Comedy” at Oil Lamp Theater through Nov. 18.

Updated: October 24, 2012 10:48AM

A generational war breaks out in the Catskills.

In Jeanne and Sam Bobrick’s spirited “Weekend Comedy,” now playing at Glenview’s Oil Lamp Theater, a cozy holiday cottage becomes a battleground.

Two unacquainted couples — one in their fifties and the other in their twenties — discover that thanks to administrative snafu, both pairs have rented the same two-room cabin for their three-day getaway. Neither party wants to give up their holiday, so they agree to make the most of it by sharing the tight quarters.

Josh Johnson ably directs this evening that involves an abundance of soul-searching, much of it peppered with biting humor, as the pairs sort out the status of their respective relationships.

After 23 years as husband and wife, middle-aged Frank and Peggy, smartly played by Jay Cook and Nicola Howard, have settled into a humdrum routine where each takes the other for granted.

And while Peggy muses about doing something “drastic” like changing her hair color or getting a facelift, what she secretly hopes for is to rekindle the passion that’s missing in their marriage.

Frank has become an insensitive fuddy-duddy: steady and reliable but no longer romantically inclined. A self-made man wrapped up in a boring job with an office supplies company, this is a guy definitely set in his ways. He takes a parochial view on travel (“Why go abroad? We’ve got everything they have in Europe, only it’s younger.”) and is in denial over the impact of creeping old age. He can’t help feeling short-changed as he wonders whether the important part of his life is already over.

In sharp contrast, the young lovers — wealthy Tony and perky Jill (Eric Bays and Jasmine Ryan, respectively) — live in the moment. They are smart and vivacious, openly affectionate, physically fit and able to enjoy a privileged lifestyle. Yet despite having lived together for three years, the idea of making a permanent commitment gives Tony cold feet.

The Bobricks’ lightweight, witty script has fun examining how couples at different stages in their lives interpret the meaning of love. The insights of this enteraining show may not be all that revelatory, but “Weekend Comedy” mines every humorous nugget for all it’s worth.

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