In a city buzzing with peoples' fingers dancing to the glow of their handheld devices as they jet from place to place, it is hard to imagine that we used to talk much more than we appear to do so today.
So it might be time for a flashback to a time when witty repartee ruled the culture.
And no one did it better than Neil Simon, whose 1963 play Barefoot in the Park entertained generations of audience members, from the stage to its big screen debut.
In the play, we meet newlyweds Paul and Corie Bratter, who are not that much different than the newer residents setting up homes in the city of Grand Rapids.
Paul – a straight-as-an-arrow lawyer – has married a total free spirit who could be plucked from the heart of Eastown.
The life they can afford in the city is an expensive one as repairs begin to pile up. And if that were not enough to deal with after their honeymoon, then the surprise visit of Corie's crazy mother sets the play into a laugh-a-minute tailspin of head-scratching set -ups, complete with run-ins with their new neighbors.
Barefoot in the Park is a University Wits production directed by Betz Lund and features actors Maureen O'Brien, Colin Maxwell Beerens, Morgan Springsteen, Chuck Fortenbacher, and Russ Fithen. If you are thinking of moving in with someone or are about to get married, this comedic play may be just what the shrink would order as a preview of what could lie ahead; for the rest of us, it's a chance to laugh at the fact that no matter what era you find yourself in, some things never do change but the rent prices.
Admission: $12 - 18. (Student and Senior tickets are available)
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