Theater Review: Grand Horizons

SARASOTA – Bess Wohl's Grand Horizons recently opened at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota. Set in a Florida retirement village that could easily pass for the local area and rife with multi-generational commentary, there's something for everyone in this poignant comedy.

Nancy and Bill have been married for half a century, and their life together in a Florida retirement community has devolved into something beyond mundane. Despite knocking on the door of 80, they decide that a divorce is the answer. Their children, however, disagree and stage an intervention. Both hilarity and introspection ensue.

Peter Van Wagner is adorable as Bill, the gruff and somewhat stoic retired pharmacist who longs to be a standup comedian in life's final act. It's Suzanne Grodner's turn as Nancy, however, that gets some of the play's best punchlines, and Grodner delivers them superbly to great comedic effect.

John Rapson does a good job as eldest son Ben, a neurotic attorney who serves as the play's straight man. FSU/Asolo Conservatory student Dayna Lee Palya is his very pregnant wife, whose career as a therapist is a useful device in the rhythm and timing element of the comedy, and Palya's often bombastic energy serves the production well.

Zachary Prince plays the younger son, Bryan, a gay high school theater teacher who's also something of a neurotic, though in a different tone. Lance Spencer gives a good turn as Tommy, an attempted late-night hookup that goes sideways, and Elise Santora gets many of the third act's best laugh lines as "other woman" Carla.

While the play is somewhat light fare, it still probes into interesting areas regarding boomers and late Gen-Xers, and the way that normative upbringings of the time continue to impact our culture. Children of the silent father generation did their best to live up to the idyllic world of early television sitcoms, often making for unpleasant adjustments when the children find out as adults that life was never as ideal as it was made to seem, even if there was a lot of evidence of such being the case along the way.

Wohl also explores the way in which children so often fail to see their parents as three-dimensional human beings with their own aspirations and disappointments, rather than just supporting cast members to their own starring role in life.

The writing is tight and there are many clever devices, such as the exposition we get through Bill practicing his stand-up routine. The cast is also very balanced, always important in an ensemble. The result is a good time that still provides much to chew on when the curtain drops. Grand Horizons runs through April 1. Visit the Asolo website for schedule and ticket information.