The Odd Couple with an odd cast of character for Thurles Drama Group

The Odd Couple by Neil Simon opens on Tuesday February 14th in The Source and runs for 6 consecutive nights.

What a joy it will be to have restrictions lifted and a full house for this hilarious play about two separated men who can’t live together and drive each other crazy.

However Oscar and Felix as the central characters are surrounded by a cast of characters that are ‘odd’ to say the least but enhance the comedy enormously and bring the external world of New York City into the apartment with great energy and gusto!

The characters turn up every Friday night to play poker in Oscar’s apartment and in typical New York fashion, they insult, denigrate and tease each other as the game goes on. Despite this, they are close friends who look out for each other and are really worried about Felix and his situation. They have known each other for years and the Friday game is a ritual as much as anything else.

Roy (Liam Ryan) is Oscar’s accountant and worries that Oscar is getting into debt and can’t afford to pay his wife’s alimony. Speed (Johnny Fogarty) just wants to play cards and Felix’s OCD about hygiene and cooking perfect food for the card game drive him mad. Vinnie (Patrick Nolan), is off to Florida on holiday in July because it’s cheap and keeps winning all the money to everyone’s frustration. Murray (Martin Fitzgerald), the neighbourhood cop is easy going, always hungry and tries to keep everyone calm and relaxed, without much success.

Halfway through the play the two Pigeon sisters (in the upstairs apartment) come for dinner. Gwendolyn (Margaret McCormack) is the dominant one who fusses over Felix and ruins Oscar’s romantic plans. Cecily (Liz Kirwan) follows her sister’s lead and appears to be the innocent abroad type. All these characters bring fun to the plot and drive the story along at a fast pace.

Despite this cast of oddities, The Odd Couple also has a slightly darker side. At the start of the play, everyone is worried that Felix might commit suicide after his wife has thrown him out and later, Oscar gets so md at Felix that he thinks he will kill him. He even offers Murray $200 if he can borrow his gun!

Serious indeed, yet Simon deals with this in a very light and funny way so the comedy shines through despite the sombre theme. The result is a great night of theatre that can be enjoyed by all.

As always, tickets can be booked in advance from The Source, so get on the phone, come along and enjoy the fun!