Sentimental ‘Sundays’ Gets Old

SAN CLEMENTE — Bob Larbey’s “A Month of Sundays” offers a tough, tender and often funny look at aging--with a propensity for sentimentality. Unfortunately, the San Clemente Community Theater chooses to focus on the sentimental aspects, wallowing in them shamelessly.

The slice-of-life story at the Cabrillo Playhouse centers on Cooper, a grouchy old guy in a nursing room. He teases and torments those in his path--daughter, son-in-law, nurse, maid, best friend--but it becomes clear that he has a heart of gold.

The part calls for a Walter Matthau or George C. Scott type--a gruff, powerful actor who intimidates with his crusty, cutting sense of humor while giving the barest hint of vulnerability.

But Malcolm Silver, husband of Sandy Silver, the company’s artistic director and director of this show, plays Cooper in an oddly subdued vein. Silver, who replaced ailing Russell Robertson shortly before opening night, knows where the jokes are but lacks the power to go for the kill.

Sandy Silver’s overall direction is stiff, and the set (by Paul Vogler) and costumes (by Diane Green) are disconcertingly odd. Why would a room in a nursing home have two exits on opposite walls and how could a nurse who has to feed, assist and clean patients come to work in casual, sparkling white jeans and a light summer top?

With the exception of Gene Fiskin as Cooper’s friend Aylott, the acting suffers from a lack of authenticity. Fiskin alone seems at ease on stage. But his breezy delivery loosens up the scenes in which he banters with Cooper about baseball, chess, fellow patients and the humiliations of aging, providing some of the best moments in the show.

When those good moments hit, it gives one a hint of how good a production of this play might be in more professional hands.

The sentimental streak may mar any production of this work, but with an increased emphasis on the very real issues it raises of how lonely and frightening it can get near the end of one’s life, “A Month of Sundays” could do more than amuse--it could move one to tears.

“A Month of Sundays,” Cabrillo Playhouse, 202 Avenida Cabrillo, San Clemente. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends May 8. $10. (714) 492-0465. Running time: 2 hours, 16 minutes. Malcolm Silver Cooper

Gene Fiskin Aylott

Trae Diede Nurse Wilson

Ingrid Gairy Julia

Michael Crane Peter

Phyllis Kessler Mrs. Baker

A San Clemente Community Theater production. By Bob Larbey. Directed by Sandy Silver. Sets: Paul Vogler. Costumes: Diane Green. Stage manager: Terri Gilbert.