By Eva Trieger
POWAY, California — Women in Jeopardy is a “love letter to mature women who refuse to fade politely into the background,” according to director, Lisa Balderston. Three now-single women enjoy a close friendship of wine dates, fun runs and book clubs, but all of that takes a back seat to their chutzpah!
When one of the friend group, Liz (Kerry Menchin), introduces her new boyfriend, Jackson (Martin Wojtysiak), the dentist, into their intimate circle, the other two ladies grow suspicious. Not only do Mary (Eva Kvaas) and Jo (Samantha Goldstein) find his humor ghoulish and macabre, but one of his hygienists has gone missing, and he was the last to have seen her. More alarming than that, the friends question Liz’ “wildly questionable life choices.”
The plot thickens as more details about the hygienist’s abduction become known. Jackson is looking more like a serial killer and less simply the libidinous boyfriend. When Mary and Jo learn that Liz’ daughter, Amanda (Abbie Black) has agreed to a quasi-father/daughter camping trip, they spring into action. They cannot allow their friend to deliver her (well-endowed) 19-year-old daughter into the diabolical dentist’s hands. Enlisting the aid of a police officer (who looks a lot like George W. Bush….and the dentist!), Kirk (also Martin Wojtysiak) and Amanda’s former boyfriend, Trenner (Alex Lopez) the women attempt to save their friend’s daughter from the menacing dentist and reveal Liz’s lapse in judgment.
The dialogue is clever and nuanced, and there are many references to the enduring allure of women of a certain age, and while the play does include themes of romance, it is really about the persistent bond of a fiercely loyal friendship.
Playwright Wendy MacLeod is also known for The House of Yes, Sin, Schoolgirl Figure, as well as other works that have aired on NPR’s All Things Considered. She has also been published in the New York Times. Co-producers Dorothy Courtney and Cheryl Tkach teamed up for this production, collaborating with set design team Gunner Kruse, Jim Pope and Gilbert Siegel.
In keeping with their commitment to enhance the community through theatre, PowPac partnered with Poway Historical and Memorial Society and the Poway Historical Museum to preserve “the unique and fascinating history of Poway.” Additionally , each performance offers an opportunity drawing so that patrons may contribute to the Elden and Joye Davisson Scholarship fund for theatre-minded Poway High School students.
Women in Jeopardy runs through June 22nd and tickets may be purchased online at boxoffice@powpac.org or by phone at 858.679.8085.
*
Eva Trieger is a freelance writer specializing in the coverage of the arts.