Neil Simon's Plaza Suite debuted in 1968, four months before I was born, so it was probably inevitable that I found myself contemplating the passage of time as I watched Olympia Little Theatre's revival.  In three acts, each of which take place in Suite 719 of the Plaza Hotel in New York City, we meet seven hotel guests.  Two of those guests, Karen and Sam Nash, are over two decades into a faltering marriage; she brought her husband to the site of their honeymoon in an effort to reignite their fading flame.  In Act II, Hollywood producer Jesse Kiplinger labors to seduce Muriel Tate, a young married woman from his hometown.  And in the final, most intensely comic act, Roy and Norma Hubley beg their daughter to come out of the bathroom and get married downstairs.

To be honest, I wasn't optimistic as I walked into the theater.  Simon has long been the fallback position for directors who don't read new plays, and Lynne Andreasen is a first-time director.  Kathy Gilliam, a house designer by day, perfectly nailed the look of a late ‘60s upscale hotel room with her sprawling set, but the stage was too cluttered.  There were few diagonal traffic lanes to facilitate blocking in the round, a decision which did in fact hamper sightlines throughout the show.  And the program director's note spoke of Simon's focus on "relationships" in bland generalities. 

What a surprise, then, when Valerie Kirkwood and Corey Moore took the stage for Act I: "Visitor from Mamaroneck."   Both of their New York accents were convincing and consistent, if a bit "Groucho" in Moore's case, and period details were accurate throughout (including Brittni Reinertsen's costume designs).  Andreasen shows particular facility with the communication of character via gesture, which Bertolt Brecht termed character "gestus," bringing otherwise empty moments to life.

The show has so many vivid strengths, in fact, that I feel justified nitpicking.  I want to use the example of OLT's Plaza Suite to offer advice to actors throughout the South Sound.  There's no question acting with an accent presents any number of challenges, even to veteran performers.  The first is comprehending the phonetic and tonal shifts required to duplicate the accent.  The second is finding the "shape" of mouth and throat that produce those shifts automatically, so the actor needn't think the phonemes through, syllable after syllable.  All the actors in OLT's production manage that considerable leap.  The final stage, which comes only after weeks of rehearsal, is fluency in the accent so complete it allows for the same emotive variety the actor brings to non-accented performances.  Otherwise, convincing as his or her accent may be, it can hinder the multidimensionality of characterization.  I watched several of OLT's otherwise fine cast growing into this ability as their respective scenes progressed.  Ryan Holmberg, however, charged into his scene (as Jesse Kiplinger) with absolute confidence and finesse.  He's an impressive actor to watch, back on the boards after several years away, and I look forward to future performances.

Believe it or not, a dollar tip to a hotel bellboy (once the politically correct term) was significant in 1968.  Adjusted for inflation, it's about six and a half bucks in 2010.  People drank vodka stingers.  A&P was the biggest supermarket chain on the East Coast; now there are fewer than 450.  The male-dominated milieu of Mad Men was giving way quickly to Mad World, even for mainstream America.  Now the all-too-familiar oeuvre of Neil Simon has condensed into a charming museum diorama. 

But Plaza Suite still elicits the laughter of recognition because, lo and behold, Andreasen was right:  It really is all about the relationships.

Plaza Suite

Through June 20, 7:55 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 1:55 p.m. Sunday, $10-$12
Olympia Little Theatre, 1925 Miller Ave. NE, Olympia
360.786.9484