To Grandmother’s House We Go…
By Bryon Cahill

“OK. All right. Let’s go. All right. I’m listening. Let’s go. All right. Here we go.” So say the old folks in Joe DiPietro’s Over the River and Through the Woods, a touching comedy running this weekend through May 20th at the Wilton Playshop.
   Over the River starts off with Nick Cristano (played by Paul Lenhart) delivering a monologue about his grandparents. Every Sunday, like an unconscious habit, Nick comes to dinner (in Hoboken, New Jersey) to visit both his mother’s parents and his father’s. Nick’s own parents moved to Florida years ago, but both sets of grandparents have become very close with each other, and of course, everyone loves Nick. These two old Italian couples who do a lot of talking over each other and even more eating are, to an effect, a fine line between traditional and stereotypical Italians. Any way you slice it though, each character (and actor) speaks from the heart.
   “Tengo familia,” Nick’s grandfather Frank (played by Joseph Mallon) says repeatedly throughout the play. Roughly translated, he means “I have a family” or “Family is the most important thing.” That’s the message he tries desperately to get Nick to understand. Along with his wife Aida (played by Elie Finkelstein), and Nick’s other set of grandparents, Emma and Nunzio (played by Virginia Lity and Frederic Tisch respectively), Frank tries to figure out a way to convey the essential mantra to their grandson. “Tengo familia.”
   But Nick has trouble understanding. Lenhart plays a young man torn between an oftentimes-overpowering family dynamic and a promising new career. His recent promotion, if he accepts it, will carry him far away to Seattle. Throughout most of the play, Nick’s anger boils and Lenhart handles the character’s inner strife with a tight, reserved fury. He yells at his grandparents a great deal, sure, but Lenhart does so through clenched teeth as if he were battling with a second nature that no longer suits him. He doesn’t want to hurt them, and yet, he doesn’t want them to hold him back either. Is that really what they are doing? Nick’s inner-debate continues.
   Enter Caitlin O’Hare. The perfect Irish name for the perfect sinister (yet well-intended) plot twist. Played by the alluring Jessica Denes, Caitlin is invited to dinner one night by Aida as a ploy to distract Nick to stay. Nick, of course, sees right through his grandmother’s tricks and will not be swayed… and yet… there’s something about her that would surely be a sin to resist. Would it not?
   Over the River and Through the Woods is both laugh-out-loud hysterical and emotionally charged. Frederic Tisch plays Nunzio so well that only the most heartless of theatergoers will sit there in the dark audience with no nostalgic thoughts of their own Grandpa. Although Over the River may seem redundant at times (it takes about 20 minutes for us to hear Nick’s “Big Announcement”), the characters presented on stage are each well crafted and lovable. You will leave feeling happy and warm.

“Over the River and Through the Woods” @ The Wilton Playshop
Showtimes: May 12th, 13th, 19th, 20th at 8:00pm
A special matinee performance for Mother’s Day: Sunday, May 14th at 2:00pm

Tickets are $18.00 for adults and $15.00 for seniors and students
Call the box office to reserve your tickets 203.762.7629