Getting Frankie Married...And Afterwards

No American playwright has been a defter and more prolific chronicler of the manners and mores of the American South than the late Horton Foote. In his 68-year career, he produced a dazzling array of work, ranging from "The Trip to Bountiful" and his screenplay for "To Kill a Mockingbird" to last season's Broadway hit "Dividing the Estate." In a time marked by a proliferation of experimental drama, he proved that traditional realism can still provoke and entertain.

In "Getting Frankie Married…and Afterwards," Fred Willis (John Lacy) is a prototypical mama's boy, tied to the apron strings of his octogenarian mother (Judith Scarpone), but that doesn't prevent him from carrying on a long-term love affair with self-effacing Frankie (Martha Demson), and a shorter, more recent fling with crass Helen Vaught (Laetitia Leon). When elderly Mrs. Willis seems about to expire, Fred finally musters the gumption to propose to Frankie, only to find that Helen is threatening to sue him for breach of promise. When both women turn up pregnant, he finds he has spawned two families, just like his father before him.

Director Scott Paulin gives the piece an exemplary production, suffused with rich detail, but the play itself is a bit fractured: Act 1 is a farcical folk comedy, while Act 2 reveals the darker underbelly of the tale. Lacy is totally credible as the well-meaning muddler Fred, whose fickle affections wreak havoc on his family, and Scarpone makes a formidable figure of the querulous elderly matriarch who uses age and illness to manipulate her pliable son. Demson's Frankie is Fred's willing doormat until his decision to divorce her arouses her fierce independence. Maia Madison is a boorishly pushy neighbor, and Jim Haynie scores comic points as her elderly husband. Stephanie Erb, Laura Richardson, and Teresa Willis provide a sort of Greek chorus of gossipy but well-meaning family friends, and Algherita Lewis and Bjorn Johnson offer fine support.


James Spencer's lavish set and Christina Wright's costumes enhance the Southern flavor. Presented by and at the Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A. April 2–May 15. Fri.–Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. (323) 882-6912. www.openfist.org.