Written by Norm Foster, “The Foursome,” at the Little Fish Theatre, is one of those productions that pops up in the heat of summer, whose theme isn’t going to plumb the depths of your heat-sapped soul but which nonetheless shows you that anything as mundane as 18 holes of golf at a college reunion can remind you to be grateful for the consolation of old friends through the passage of time.
Director Gia Jordahl nicely managed the “Fore!-play” here. Measured and thoughtful, the production putts along with an undemanding structure. Just regular dudes, the four men have gone on to fulfill various destinies since they graduated from college. On the surface all are relatively successful. They are as they seem: prosperous, content, moving forward. But nothing is what it seems.
The four actors nicely recapture the enthusiasm of their youth. The only difference now is that they’re variously married, divorced, with kids, unable to have them, wealthy or not. Jonathan Farnsworth’s Ted is laid back and seemingly untroubled. But he does drink too much which suggests that he is troubled. A lousy golfer but a good man, Frank Pepito’s Donnie is stable, calm at the start, calm at the end. He’s also, literally, the butt of jokes. Mark Nelson’s Cameron is still boyish, still bubbly, but he’s hiding a shameful secret. Seemingly above picayune cons, he pulls the best one of all. Bill Wolski’s Rick is in-your-face abrupt, the most likely to remain and asshole. And yet, not only is he simpatico but – gasp! - he has a heart, as well.
The story proceeds hole by hole. There are no sudden complications or drastic denouements, just the swiping of a ball off a tee. Money gets waged, stakes get raised, beer at 7am gets consumed. As the play makes clear, golf is an apt Canterbury Tale metaphor for life – a lot of standing around between sudden bursts of activity. Between holes is when we come clean, negotiate with ourselves and our friends, and get down to business.
The nimble performances kept things loose. Jordahl’s hand over the proceedings was light, invisible even, which gave us the sense that we were waiting to tee off behind them. We eavesdropped on private matters (impotence, unemployment, a drinking problem, one man’s wife having slept with the other three men before her marriage to the fourth) and on practical jokes (wedgies the night before, some positively demonic attempts to disrupt and opponent’s tee shot).
As it should be, the set was minimal, a scruff of Astroturf, the better to highlight a pourparler of the four chums as they negotiated with their lives back home. It’s the achievement of the production that it doesn’t seem like a production at all. Everything was as it would be on a golf course, as it would be with four college friends, catching up, revealing, evaluating and, ultimately, proving that, as with marriage, you can’t necessarily rekindle the past but you can grow old and, heck, even grow up together.
Performances are 8pm, Wed. & Thu. The show runs until Sept. 2. Tickets are $15. The Theatre is located at 777 Centre Street, San Pedro. For more info call (310) 512-6030 or visit ww.littlefishtheatre.org.
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