Aspirin & Elephants Clio Cast and Crew, Inc.

             

Aspirin & Elephants - Clio Cast and Crew, Inc.

By: Laura Anne Miller

Set sail with Clio Cast and Crew and their season closer, Aspirin and Elephants by Jerry Mayer. 

Junior (John Dunning) and Honey (Joy Bishop), their daughters Liz (Marie Gilkerson) and Stephanie (Breanna Mitchell) and sons-in-law, Arnie (Collin Brown) and Scott (Alex Volkoun) , hope time away on a cruise will repair and revitalize their individual marriages. The title refers to Junior having had a heart attack a few months prior to the cruise and now he lives in fear of it happening again while Honey shields him from any stress. Their daughters both face different challenges in their marriages and everyone tries to downplay the tension building in all the family relationships. 

The set (Todd Clemons & Rick Doll) stays the same throughout the whole show, with no moving pieces. The center is dedicated to Junior and Honey’s stateroom, where most of the play takes place. The daughters have the illusion of a room, one on each side of the main stage. A short wall separates the rooms from the parents’ stateroom. At certain points, one stateroom would be lit while the actors in the other froze and the lights would go down to indicate an overlapping scene. This was a creative use of lighting and space (Pat Hubbard). 

Costuming (Cast and Mary Ann Olsey) was pretty casual, with each character wearing their version of typical cruise-wear. Each actor had their own style and at times, the men sported different versions of “Hawaiian”-like shirts. There were several costume changes as the play takes place over the course of a few days.

Overall, the actors all did a great job. It is hard to portray a family unit as people who are not family. Especially with people that are not intimately connected. This group manages to achieve the look of a family, and married couples, for the most part. A few characters seemed to lack some depth. Brianna Mitchell (Stephanie) was a stand out for this performance, as was Marie Gilkerson (Liz). Collin Brown (Arnie) was also a stand out performer.

The story itself is okay. The first part of the play was interesting and the last part was interesting. The middle part, however, felt like each character grouping was having the same argument or discussion they had been having all play again and again, just in different words. This made the story feel a little long and tedious in the middle. 

A heads up for anyone who is planning to come to this show: there is a lot of coarse language and sexual jokes, innuendos, and conversation as well as some suicide/death jokes. One might expect and even appreciate some off-color jokes or some swearing in a play like this, but it felt excessive and unnecessary in this show.

Is this play worth coming to see? Yes. It is a good little play that showcases typical family dynamics. People may even recognize their own family or life situations in some of the situations portrayed onstage. It might get some uncomfortable but necessary conversations started. It is also a feel good romantic drama-comedy that people need right now.

This show runs from May 29 to June 7. Tickets are available online at cliocastandcrew.ludus.com or call the box office at 810-687-2588.