It’s a comedy, yes, but a dark one. Although that’s not how The Players bring off their too-surfacey Kimberly Akimbo.
Because a rare condition ages her four and a half times faster than normal, Kimberly at 16 doesn’t “fit in” at school or home. She not only looks older than her family but appears more developed morally. Her father Buddy drinks and avoids even meals at home. Her pregnant mother Pattie, hands bandaged due to carpal tunnel syndrome, expects to be waited on. She tapes messages to the fetus she wants to care for her in her old age.
Small wonder Kimberly agrees to help schoolmate Jeff, who’s writing a paper about her disease. To his father, he’s a nerd who plays word games, but Kimberly enjoys Jeff and the last name he’s arranged for her. Both become prey, though, to her mother’s sister.
Aunt Debra has caused trouble whenever she lived with the family. Now she’s searched them out and has a scheme for a theft she can realize only with the kids’ help. With the money, homeless Debra can take off for Florida. And maybe, with the kids’ share, Pattie and Buddy can take one of those exotic trips of their dreams. Maybe.
The problem with The Players’ production of Kimberly Akimbo is that everything’s surface. We get the feeling of Kimberly’s anguish but not as a teenager. Rather, she’s the subdued older adult that Jenny Aldrich Walker always looks and especially sounds like, despite pony tails and a bright-eyed last scene. She doesn’t seem to get frailer as the drama progresses but rather gains strength from association with Jeff.
Ross Boeringer is not an overdone stage drunk, thank goodness. Buddy doesn’t live up to his responsibilities but does seem to want to do better by his daughter. He’s weak rather than shameful for complicity with his wife in how she got pregnant.
Hypochondriac and selfish complainer Pattie is played totally for laughs by Kaylene McCaw. True, she’s a flake but should be seen as a despicable one. Except for Jamie Lee Butrum acting over the top as Debra, it’s hard to believe they’re sisters. No family members resemble each other at all.
Ellie Pattison directs the show like farce when the play is more complex. Akimbo in a computer game refers to having two weapons in use at the same time but it’s hard to see the name’s application in The Players’ version of Kimberly the character or of Lindsay-Abaire’s play. Switches from a realistic kitchen, for example, to stylized car rides don’t jibe, just as scene changes take too long.
Is this a comedy because Kimberly’s happy at the end? But isn’t there a not so fun other end that’s forgotten? Why aren’t the two reconciled?
