Theater Review : Simon’s ‘Park’ Has Its Bare Foot Stuck in ‘60s

The temptation of relocating any Neil Simon comedy--especially any from his fecund 1960s period--to the present is understandable. What harm could there be, for instance, in fast-forwarding his mid-’60s hit, “Barefoot in the Park,” to the mid-’90s? Is his sweet little paean to young love in the big city all that dated? Have we really changed that much since then?

Yes, and yes.

“The time is the present” reads both Simon’s script and the program for the Cypress Civic Theatre Guild production at the Cypress Cultural Arts Center. But “Barefoot” actually takes place in a very ‘60s kind of park, and no amount of script updating will change that fact.

Indeed, taking Simon’s play at face value, “Barefoot” reminds that the ‘60s--Simon’s ‘60s at least--weren’t that far from the ‘50s, when “the little woman” stayed at home.

Simon’s little woman here is Corie (Judy Gish), whose every conscious moment seems centered on loading tons of love on her new husband, Paul (Daniel Schneider); or asking Paul every few minutes if he still loves her; or fretting intensely that her mom (Joan Neubauer) won’t like their new, cramped walk-up apartment. When their suave, ever-so-continental neighbor Victor (Victor Mena) asks Corie if she’s a singer, she says no, she’s a housewife.

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Now, there may still be a few young housewives in mid-Manhattan brownstones, but it’s a safer bet that there are none at all. Simon’s Corie is actually a classic stereotype of the hysterical woman--she decides to divorce Paul in the midst of their first authentic marital spat--who depends on her character being defined by those around her.

She has one foot in the ‘60s (she can impulsively let her hair down, walking “barefoot in the park” for the hell of it), but the rest of her is planted in the Eisenhower era.

Why director Susan Marx and company decided to layer a ‘90s paint coat on this material is more than a bit odd. Little attempts at updating (a mention of Fidel Castro is replaced with a mention of Steven Spielberg) get confused amid the anachronisms.

When Paul shudders as he tells Corie that a married couple downstairs are of the same sex, or when Paul, Corie and mother look upon Victor’s ethnic cooking like he’s from Mars (ethnic cooking is part and parcel of places like New York), we have to wonder where we are.

Marx’s cast--and production--looks a little confused too. Gish tends to screech her way through Corie’s role, rather than find a comic pulse that might soften her retrograde character.

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Schneider falls into the trap of playing stuffed-shirt Paul stuffily, and loses Paul’s rather healthy awareness of his absurd situation. In Mena’s hands, this isn’t a Victor who would sweep anyone off their feet.

Even Phil Lubman’s attractive, peach-colored apartment set is all wrong: Simon calls for dingy, cramped quarters where appliances don’t go on and skylight windows are broken. (And why place a new sofa directly under the busted window?)

The brightest glimmer of comic light comes from Neubauer, who makes Corie’s unsure mom her very own. Neubauer may fret a little excessively, but it’s in a charming style that feels much closer to the tone Simon intended.

Craig Jackson and Lee Parry make every one of their few moments as (respectively) a phone repairman and delivery man worth watching.

What’s harder to figure is what’s worth watching in a comedy as fixed to its original time and place as the Twist.

* “Barefoot in the Park,” Cypress Cultural Arts Center, 5172 Orange Ave., Cypress. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Oct. 1. $3-$8. (714) 229-6796. Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes. Judy Gish: Corie

Daniel Schneider: Paul

Joan Neubauer: Mother

Victor Mena: Victor

Craig Jackman: Telephone Repairman

Lee Parry: Delivery Man

A Cypress Civic Theatre Guild production of Neil Simon’s comedy. Directed by Susan Marx. Set: Phil Lubman. Lights and Sound: Dave Frye and John Daniel.