Valley Theatre Company presents "The Odd Couple" by Neil Simon

Valley Theatre Company is proud to present its Winter Play: The Odd Couple by Neil Simon Directed by Jessica Horrocks and Jessica Solberg Black Neil Simon is know as “the father of modern comedy” and his classic work, The Odd Couple is considered by many as the finest stage comedy ever written. Oscar Madison, a carefree, good-natured, divorced sportswriter who lives alone in a messy eight-room New York apartment. He is completely oblivious to dirt, clutter, and the overdue child-support payments about which his wife telephones weekly. He has his male cronies in for a weekly poker game with refreshments that invite food poisoning. Oscar’s lifestyle is abruptly turned around when he takes in one of the members of the group, Felix Ungar, whose wife has thrown him out. These two mismatched roommates – one divorced and one estranged and neither quite sure why their marriages fell apart – move in together to save money for alimony and suddenly discover they’re having the same conflicts and fights they had in their marriages. The Odd Couple is a comic treatment of a serious theme: how human relationships can go wrong, especially when too much ego is involved. Felix and Oscar are both part of a failed marital relationship; while both readily admit to their shortcomings, they have too much self-love to believe that the failure actually resulted from any faults of their own. It also highlights Simon’s belief in the value of compromise in relationships. Each partner in this “marriage” must moderate his behavior to make the arrangement work; otherwise the relationship will end in “divorce.” Despite their failures, Simon's play upholds the value of marriage by showing the absurdity of selfish behavior, and by making audiences recognize, through humor, their own self-destructive behaviors. “The Odd Couple” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com