Ripcord

A quick note about David Lindasy-Abaire's latest, Ripcord. The play, directed by David Hyde Pierce (La Bete), finds two senior citizens, Marilyn (Marylouise Burke (Fish in the Dark)) and Abby (Holland Taylor (Ann)), sharing a room at an assisted living facility. The are most certainly an odd couple, with Marilyn being upbeat and continually nattering on about something or other, trying to get to know her roommate, and Abby the buttoned-up woman of manners, cool and collected throughout. After a trip to a haunted house (seriously), the ladies make a bet: If Marilyn can scare Abby, Marilyn gets the better bed. If Abby can anger Marilyn, Marilyn moves out.

And so the stakes are set and all sorts of silly shenanigans ensue, including a sky diving sequence (again, seriously). It's fun to watch the two ladies needle each other. They are sometimes visited by Scotty (Nate Miller (Of Good Stock)), who works at the facility, as well as Marilyn's daughter and son-in-law, played by Rachel Dratch and Daoud Heidami, respectively. (Glenn Fitzgerald effectively plays a few characters throughout.)

Lindsay-Abaire drops breadcrumbs throughout his just pleasant play, signaling a dramatic shift somewhere down the road. The trail doesn't lead exactly where I thought it would, which, in retrospect, made the play more engaging, but the shift did arrive. Ultimately, we see that the women needed to learn when to stop fighting it, pull the ripcord and just enjoy the view.