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Theatre by Jeff Goffin The Odd Couple Chimaera Productions Runs August 31 - September 16 Big Secret Theatre (PAC) One’s a slob and the other’s a neat freak. Either they learn to live together or they kill each other. It’s the archetypal roommate problem. It’s also Neil Simon’s famous play about messy Oscar and prissy Felix –The Odd Couple. Calgary is about to see a new version of this classic. Chimaera Productions will be launching its fifth season with a production of The Odd Couple at the Big Secret Theatre. This is an adaptation done by Neil Simon in which the male roles have been rewritten for women. "I think it works almost better," says director Val Planche. "The classic stereotypes work just as well for women. "I love the way he’s adapted it. All of the male characters in that script have turned beautifully into females. It’s about these women who are coming out of divorce or trying to make their marriages work and it really speaks to a modern society." In this production the characters of Oscar and Felix are now Olive and Florence. Olive, the slob, is the producer of a sports show, while Florence is a housewife who gave up a career as an accountant to raise a family. "She’s a wonderful mother and housewife and caregiver, but she has nothing emotionally to give, and it turns into a bit of a mania on her part and that’s basically why her husband kicks her out," says Planche of Florence. "She doesn’t even know who she is anymore." The friction that arises when these two completely different personalities try to co-exist in Olive’s apartment sparks the play’s comedy. Planche is confident these characters are in very capable hands. Tanya Lukenoff, who plays Olive, has a background in commedia dell’arte, and Lorette Clow, who tackles the role of Florence, does a lot of film. Both actresses reminded Planche immediately of the characters they play. "It’s interesting how the smallness, the tightness of film lends itself to Florence and the broadness of commedia lends itself to Olive in terms of their work. Getting those characteristics to play in one world has been exciting," she says. "I really loved the original. Being roommates is tough at the best of times. You learn what people are really like when you live with them. Two people think they’re friends and find they don’t really know each other and they don’t know themselves. "It’s a wonderful romp through relationships and it’s as physical as the male show would be. So I think everyone – men and women – can come and have a great time."

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