2011年7月23日 星期六

We Go Everywhere Together is filled with tired old-age jokes

Ohio's 34 West Theater Company went looking for a show that would appeal to older people, and they certainly found it in We Go Everywhere Together. George and Henry are best friends. They live next door to each other. They go to the movies together. They watch Jeopardy together. Henry is nearly blind. George is nearly deaf. They make a great team.

George (Stephen Baldwin) decides he wants to settle down and has his eye on Gladys. Taking his daughter's suggestion, George attends a speed dating potluck dinner at church, which gives him an opportunity to practice his pick up lines that he memorized from a library book.

Henry (Jeffrey Querin) has his "dinner club," an unofficial group of lady friends who bring him meals each night, but he is partial to Stella. Before he settles down again, he wants to accomplish a list of things to do before he kicks the bucket. He and George set out to finish his "bucket fish." They travel from the Grand Canyon to New York City, with blind Henry driving, of course.

The audience loved the tried-and-true old-age jokes about digestion problems, senility, and blindness and deafness. Not surprisingly, the audience was also made of mostly old people. We Go Everywhere Together is upbeat and optimistic, but it is definitely targeted toward a demographic that can relate. The humor is predictable, routine material. The jokes rely heavily on corny puns and mispronounced words resulting from George's hearing problem. The script is weak on plot and lacks structure. The strength of the play rests in the characterization. Were the actors close to the age of their characters, the play would be more effective.


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