We saw a production of the Neil Simon play “Barefoot in the Park” at the Victorian Theatre in Denver over the weekend. Somehow I had missed this particular play in the past. The venue is a house in a residential neighborhood in north Denver.  The 75 seat theatre is in the basement.  The proscenium is surprisingly generous in size. The lighting and sound effects were more than sufficient in effect and in fact were skillfully applied. 

It is easy to slip into the notion that Neil Simon plays are easy to pull off.  The dialog and plot seem as familiar and facile as slipping on an old pair of blue jeans.  Every male lead seems to be Jack Lemmon reincarnate and the irrascible neighbor is Walter Matthau. Indeed, the rythms and tenor of Neil Simon plays are remarkably similar. 

But, from the technical execution point of view, the dialog does present some challenges for the actors.  Simon’s humor seems to require a certain kind of a plain-yet-erudite elocution to bring the lines out properly.  And this is why I keep coming back to Jack Lemmon. Lemmon’s style of acting seemed made to order for Simon.  Intensity and a capacity to switch from anger to humor in an instant are necessary skills for a Simon play.

My expectations of how a Simon part should be played is really more of a limitation of my own thinking than pretentious criticism.  It is a sort of reverse type casting and it should in no way be construed as negative commentary on Simons prodigous ability to write plays.

I would give the production a B+ overall.