Review: ROSE AND WALSH at Theatre Suburbia

Sometimes what community theatre does best is remind us of a show that is a gentle comedy from a treasured playwright that wouldn't necessarily get mainstage treatment at large houses such as the Alley or the Hobby Center. ROSE AND WALSH now playing at Theatre Suburbia is Neil Simon's meditation on how love lives on after death, and it serves as a reminder of what a great author can do with a good concept. It's a touching, sweet, and well produced evening out at Northwest Houston's longest running all-volunteer playhouse.

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Rumor has it this 2003 script from Neil Simon is based on the relationship between Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammet, legendary authors who were also political revolutionaries as well as sweethearts. Simon boils it down to just two writers who can't quit each other even in death. Rose Steiner (Carol Davis) sees and talks to the ghost of her lover who has passed five years before named Walsh McClarren (Adrian Collinson). She is a Pulitzer prize winning playwright and he was a hard boiled mystery writer. Aging Rose is in dire financial straits, and the ghost of her flame leads her to an unpublished manuscript that could be worth a mint. The only trouble is, it isn't finished. So Rose has to have her assistant Arlene (Bailey Hampton) help her contact fiction writer Gavin Clancy (Dean R. Dicks) to wrap up the last forty pages. During this process we find out about a few more relationships that add some dimension to Rose and her ghostly love Walsh.

SuzAnne King directs ably with assistance from Tyler Eckert, and they keep things moving quickly with nice comic timing that suits Neil Simon. Suzanne always seems to be deft at guiding actors through humorous bits, and her her touch shines with this material. Theatre Suburbia has produced a beautiful set despite setbacks including a Christmas Eve flood that rivals many houses with far bigger budgets. It feels fancy and well appointed. The show is set in 1984, and the props and costumes reflect it all with precision. This is a handsome production for any theater, let alone a non-profit one tucked in next to a tile supplier off Hempstead Highway.

Acting-wise we have Bailey Hampton and Dean R. Dicks playing the assistant and writer who spark a romance in the shadow of the titular characters. They both manage to be likable and earnest, and their naturalness feels charming and unforced at every turn. Adrian Collinson gets to depart from his usual bad guy routine to use his baby blues and graying hair to sweet use. He's a handsome kind ghost who anybody wouldn't mind being haunted by. But the evening belongs to Carol Davis, who gives Rose life even as she faces her imminent death. She has the right dry tough exterior that cracks appropriately in the play's climax to reveal an inner beauty worthy of her namesake. My only quibble is that Carol looks a bit too spry and young to be playing the senior citizen losing her eyesight. But overall the cast achieves exactly what the script calls for.

This is one of those "glad I came" community Theater Productions that leave you with a smile and something to think about for a while. It's nothing too daring or experimental, but the laughs are genuine and the sentiments are not overly saccharine or treacly. The cast finds the right tone and rhythm to keep things afloat through a Neil Simon comedy. ROSE AND WALSH is worth the trip to a small theater on Way Out West Drive just to marvel at what an intimate space can do with something sweet and funny.

ROSE AND WALSH runs through February 4th at Theatre Suburbia located at 4106 Way Out West Drive. Evening shows begin at 8:30pm, and Sunday matinees are at 3pm on January 22nd and 29th only. Reservations are made by calling (713) 682-3525. More information can be found at http://www.theatresuburbia.org/.

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