2’S REVIEW: “INCIDENT AT OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP”

“Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help” is an emotionally rewarding comedy that you don’t want to see come to an end.

As an audience member, you’ll find yourself getting acquainted quickly with the O’Shea family as their oldest daughter Linda, played perfectly by Actress Emma Geer, introduces us to her Irish Catholic family.

Geer serves as a narrator throughout the show, recalling one week of her life set in 1973.

This show takes you back to the not-so-long-ago time, before the internet, cell phones and social media.

A time when the town gossip went viral by word of mouth, putting your reputation on the line.

The stage is beautifully set to resemble that of a 70s middle-income family complete with mismatched appliances and furnishings.

19-year-old Linda is forced to tell her 13-year-old sister Becky, played brilliantly by Actress Gigi Lieze-Adams, about the Birds and the Bees.

The show is Lieze-Adams first big role on stage, and she convincingly plays the younger naive sister.

The parish priest, played spot-on by Actor David Breitbarth, overhears the conversation between the two sisters after Becky accidentally records it on her tape recorder and Father Lovett sets out to confront the family about their wayward daughters.

But a nosy and homely parishioner Betty Heckenbach, also played hilariously by Breitbarth in drag, gets wind of the indiscretion and tries relentlessly to uncover the details of what has unnerved the parish priest.

Breitbarth delivers a third character, the overworked and stressed out working-class patriarch of the family.

It takes every O’Shea family member to save the family name including Linda’s mother Josephine O’Shea played lovingly by Actress Suzanne O’Donnell.

Her sister Theresa Carmichael played by Carine Montbertrand, however, steals the show with many of the laugh out loud moments.

Montbertrand has developed her character into that crazy aunt we all know and love.

The show by actor-turned-playwright Katie Forgette is truly an unforgettable and heartwarming comedy with fresh and hilarious characters.  It’s the kind of show you wouldn’t mind seeing a couple of times.

It takes a talented cast to make you fall in love with the characters but each of them achieves that in this performance and leaves you wanting to spend more time with the entire O’Shea family.

The production runs in the Historic Arcade Theater through November 13th and tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at 239-332-4488