KAPA‘A — The infamous Arnold Meister is at it again, directing yet another play for Kaua‘i’s theatrical audience. This time he tackles “The Sisters Rosensweig,” a 1992 comedy written by Wendy Wasserstein about the transformative power of love, sisterhood and
KAPA‘A — The infamous Arnold Meister is at it again, directing yet another play for Kaua‘i’s theatrical audience.
This time he tackles “The Sisters Rosensweig,” a 1992 comedy written by Wendy Wasserstein about the transformative power of love, sisterhood and life.
“It is a very funny play,” Meister said. “It really is a comedy of people interacting and coming to terms with things that happen in their lives.”
Presented by Women in Theatre, “The Sisters Rosensweig” opens March 1 and will run Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through March 17.
“It’s one of the top plays to come out of New York in the early-90s,” Meister said.
The play takes place in the London apartment of Sara Goode (formerly Sara Rosensweig), who is celebrating her 54th birthday in the company of her two sisters. The reunion is the first time all three sisters have been together since their mother Rita Rosensweig died.
The sisters were born in a very ethnic Brooklyn neighborhood, but each has come far in the world, according to the play summary. Sara is an international banker who has married a few times and now finds herself attracted, against her better judgment, to the Jewish furrier Mervyn Kant.
Sister Gorgeous Teitelbaum is famous in Boston for giving advice on her radio show and Pfeni is a renowned travel writer in a dead-end romance with the bisexual stage director Geoffrey Duncan, according to the synopsis.
“The play is held together by the richly woven dialogue of three Jewish-American sisters pushing against the boundaries of their own lives in order to define themselves,” the synopsis states. “Consequently, they do come to a point of resolution in their struggles, sometimes raising their voices in protest to be heard, at other times speaking softly in an attempt to hear themselves. Despite the absence of any action, the sisters manage to transform both themselves and their lives in the course of one evening.”
During the play, Wasserstein captures several social and political issues that gave shape to the late part of the 1980s, including the fall of the Soviet Union, Reaganomics and the plight of the homeless, according to the play summary.
The approximately two-hour play features a cast of 8 local actors, which Meister described as the “cream of the crop.”
Cast members include Laurie Aguayo as Sara, Emma Palumbo as Gorgeous, Nadya Wynd as Pfeni, Morgan Liddell as Mervyn, Ross Martineau as Geoffrey, Corissa Berrett as Tess, Bailey Hutton as Tom and Ron Wood as Nick.
“I just come away so energized from the rehearsals,” said Meister, who also designed the play’s set. “It’s a real actors play.”
Meister said audiences are in for a fast-moving performance, chock full of humor, heart and wisdom.
“It’s a real nice balance between the wit and the drama,” he said.
“The Sisters Rosensweig” — winner of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Broadway Play — will run from March 1 through 17 at WIT’s End, located in Kapa‘a’s Coconut Marketplace, 4-484 Kuhio Highway. Friday and Saturday performances begin at 7:30 and Sunday performances start at 5 p.m.
Tickets cost $18 and can be purchased at the door or in advance at www.womenintheatre.org.
For more information contact the WIT hotline at 808-635-3727.
