‘Bridge Club’ Tries Its Hand at Dysfunction

There is something missing in a drama that fast-forwards from a situation setup in 1934 to a decade later--when all the heart-tugging apprehensions of sending off sons to a distant war and the heart-wrenching decision of institutionalizing one family member have passed.

P.J. Barry didn’t deal with such messy stuff in his “The Octette Bridge Club,” at Actors Co-op’s Crossley Theatre.

Instead, we meet the eight sisters at their third anniversary of a twice-monthly bridge club. Sounds like an Irish American take on Amy Tan’s “Joy Luck Club,” but it is nowhere near as involving. Rather, it collapses into petty grudges and revelations of unhappy marriages, with an imitation of an amateur talent show thrown in to bolster the 13th anniversary, in the second act.

What little tension exists is built upon the tyrannical holier-than-thou authority of the eldest sister, Martha (Joan Benedict), and the emotionally unstable, youngest sister, Betsy (Rebecca Hayes). Neither character seems particularly grounded in reality.

Director Michele Martin-Gossett gallantly attempts to keep the audience engrossed in the eight sisters and is able to wring some cheap tears from audience members. Not an easy task when the script barely rationalizes the existence of all eight for plot development.

*

* “The Octette Bridge Club,” Actors Co-op, Crossley Theatre, 1760 N. Gower St., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 p.m. Ends Nov. 23. $15. (213) 462-8460. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes.