'Last of the Red Hot Lovers' explores mid-life crisis

One should not judge a book by its cover, or a play by its title, for that matter. And while Penn Players once again opens its theater season with a racy title, Last of the Red Hot Lovers has little to do with the sexual innuendo it implies, unlike last year's hit opener Sexual Perversity in Chicago. This comedy, by writer Neil Simon, centers on Barney Cashman, a New York City restaurant owner who is struggling through a mid-life crisis; having been happily married for 23 years, Cashman is afraid of dying without having ever gone beyond his daily ritual. In each of the three acts Cashman tries to have an extramarital affair with a different woman. "[Cashman] thinks there has to be a happy ending to everything and in trying to get one, he loses touch with reality," said the show's director, Tom McManus. "[He feels] life has to be better than nice when sometimes nice isn't so bad." Tom Shotkin, a 20-year-old College junior, plays 40-year-old Cashman. "I can't relate to him personally," Shotkin said yesterday. "But he has the kind of problems that everyone either has or imagines they will have." The cast and crew began work on the play only three weeks ago and the actors conducted intensive rehearsals, often for eight hours a day, six days a week. Shotkin said he found it to be a "very interesting" experience working with the actresses who play Cashman's would-be lovers. "The three characters are so different and the people themselves are actually also very different," Shotkin noted. "When you do the show in order, you can see [Cashman's personality change] but it was so intense and out of order that it was sometimes hard to get into his frame of mind." College senior Allison Polin said she also plays a character drastically different from herself. Polin described her character, Jeanette, as clinically depressed. "She is so far past normal depression," Polin said. "I hope I never experience something like that." However despite the melancholy themes in Last of the Red Hot Lovers, those involved accent its humor. "I still think its really funny, even after watching it so many times," Polin added. "It's not Brighton Beach Memoirs but it has a lot to its own merit." Last of the Red Hot Lovers is the first production McManus has directed at the University. Although it is not one of Simon's better known shows, McManus felt it would draw an audience. "It's a comedy and I think the campus needs a comedy but it does have some heavy themes," he said. The show is also a first for Producer Bardo Ramirez, a Wharton senior, who noted the crew helped the show "come together" quickly. "The staff is small and because of that, we've all had to wear many hats," Ramirez said. "The staff has been a real ensemble piece which is usually a term used to describe a cast, not a staff." Last of the Red Hot Lovers will be performed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. in the Studio Theater of the Annenberg Center. Tickets are $5 and are available on Locust Walk Monday and Tuesday or at the door.

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