The Odd Couple an 80s flashback

Teased hair, shoulder pads, head bands, acid wash denim, pastels, jungle prints, and leg warmers. The eighties were a time of wild colourful fashions. It was also an era in which women struggled to balance career and home life, to both “bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan.”

The South Okanagan Amater Players’ production of The Odd Couple by Neil Simon (female version) is set in the mid-eighties. The newer version of the classic 60’s comedy gives costumer Bernice Myllyniemi a chance to hunt the thrift stores for 80s fashions. It also puts SOAP’s backstage personnel to the test recreating the vivid makeup, big hairstyles, and props of the day. Visually, this makes the production fun to watch. 

But it also sets the play in a  fascinating period in women’s history. “On the one hand, women were still expected to be wives and mothers,” explains director Penelope Johnson. “On the other, the ‘third wave’ of feminism had opened many doors for women to advance their careers. So middle-aged women, especially those newly separated, were caught between these dual expectations.”

This is where the play finds Olive Madison (played by Aimee Grice) and Florence Unger (played by Leslee Hatherly), two women thrown together after both separating from their husbands. “Olive represents the career woman. She comfortably inhabits a ‘man’s world’, relates well to men, with little concern for fashion or feminine pursuits. Florence has been a housewife and mother, and her life has been all about maintaining appearances. Men are a mystery to her. The two women are polar opposites, which creates most of the humour in the play.”

The Odd Couple also has an appeal for men in the audience. When Olive and Florence re-enter the dating scene, they invite their Spanish neighbours for dinner with hilarious results. Playing the Costazuela brothers are SOAP veterans Tom Szalay (as Manolo) and Paul Everest (as Jesus). “Men will certainly relate to the mixed signals Manolo and Jesus encounter dating these women. Olive wants to turn up the heat and Florence wants to backpedal into the safety of the kitchen. The date scene has some of the biggest laughs of the night.” The comedy reveals how Olive and Florence resolve their differences and find self-respect in their newly independent lives.

The Odd Couple plays Friday May 6 and Saturday May  7 at SOSS Venables Auditorium in Oliver at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 and $12 and are available at Sundance Video (Oliver), Your Dollar Store with More (Osoyoos), and at the door. Information: SOAP@telus.net