PORT DOVER—Do you ever begin to feel like a broken record, repeating the same message? That’s me, every time I see another wonderful comedy on the stage at Lighthouse Theatre in Port Dover. But the truth can’t be denied – the latest offering in their summer series, ‘The Sweet Delilah Swim Club’, is yet another gem, guaranteed to make you bust a gut and leave with some deep feelings at the end.
While the subject matter of aging friends humorously traversing life’s struggles and successes is a well-worn trope on stages around the world, it’s the little details that make a show sink or swim. What sets ‘Sweet Delilah’ apart is the expertly written characters, the actresses portraying them, and the chemistry and camaraderie they share together across the show’s breezy two-hour runtime.
The show is written by the three-person team of Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten.
Set in four different time periods, beginning in 1991 and ending in 2023, it follows the adventures of a tight-knit group of friends who first bonded as members of their college swim team. We meet them at mid-life and stay with them through old age.
The show is directed by incoming Lighthouse Artistic Director Jane Spence, showcasing the same natural mastery of comic timing seen in her previous Lighthouse shows ‘Halfway There’, ‘On The Air’, and ‘Where You Are’.
It delivers zinger after zinger with confidence, bringing big laughs that shook the walls on opening night, with random bursts of applause aplenty following some particularly hard-hitting one-liners or monologues.
The five actresses who bring it all to life are Debra Hale as Sheree, Susan Henry as Lexie, Susan Johnston Collins as Dinah, Jane Miller as Jeri, and Andrea Risk as Vernadette.
Hale brings some strong ‘girl scout’ vibes as the friend who is always annoyingly over-prepared, while Johnston Collins gets to throw solid gold one liners while drinking tumblers full of orange juice and vodka. Henley is hysterical as the slightly aloof friend with a charming lack of self-awareness, while Miller brings a sincerity and vulnerability to her role as a former nun who shows up with a shocking surprise for her friends early in the show.
But it’s Risk as Vernadette who acts as the show’s heartbeat. Unlike her friends, Vernadette has had a more challenging go at life, and the way her friends rally around her as she ages, and starts to lose her memory, is very touching. She also gets some of the show’s biggest speeches and is more than up to the task of delivering them with gusto, earning applause more than once and earning a few tears by the show’s end.
The five have a believable connection, which only deepens as the show progresses through the years. It’s one of the better ensemble casts seen on the Lighthouse stage in a long time, and that’s really saying something.
As always, the show’s production values are top notch, with a beautifully designed cottage set, along with effective sound and lighting cues throughout. The real star of the show here is that on-stage chemistry, and the technical team at Lighthouse knows how to perfectly accent the action on stage.
Another surprise star? The show-themed blueberry sangria served at Lighthouse’s bar. Definitely worth a glass, and quite popular judging by the number of patrons sipping on one during the intermission.
‘The Sweet Delilah Swim Club’ is playing at Port Dover’s Lighthouse Festival Theatre through August 10. It will head to Port Colborne’s Roselawn Theatre August 14-25. For tickets and showtimes, visit lighthousetheatre.com or call 1-888-779-7703.
