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Photo by Don Kellogg

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Ripcord

Old people are usually a funny topic.  And Marilyn Dunn (Marylouise Burke) and Abby Binder (Hollad Taylor) are no exception in David Lindsay Abaire's clever new romp over at Manhattan Theater Club's City Center Stage II is no exception.

Marilyn and Abby are going at it toe to toe, no holds barred at the Bristol Place Assisted Living Facility.  And why not?  What have they got to lose?  Abby wants the room to herself. Marilyn, however, is determined to be Abby's sunny, chatty, and cheerful roommate.  Skydiving (conveniently linked to the show's title).  Lunch visits.  Police Reports.  Estranged family members.  Even death.  Will these cunning ladies duke it out till the last one is standing?  The referee in the tete-a-tete is none other than the scruffy, sexy, and burly employee and aspiring actor, Scotty (Nate Miller).  Marilyn's daughter, Colleen, (Rachel Dratch) and son-in-law, Derek, (Daoud Heidami) find themselves drawn into the battle.  Abby's estranged son Benjamin (Glenn Fitzgerald) eventually becomes a pawn in the game as well.

Head on over to West 55th Street and see who wins this epic battle of wills.  Fine acting all around.(especially by Scotty).