Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Theatrical until the pain hits

Bold choices aim to strike a balance in Regrets Only at Diversionary

Charles Maze and Andrew Oswald in Regrets Only at Diversionary.
Charles Maze and Andrew Oswald in Regrets Only at Diversionary.

Regrets Only

You’d think Tibby has it all. Husband Jack’s a mover/shaker attorney. They have a posh-plus, Upper East Side apartment (which, in Matt Scott’s fine set for Diversionary, looks down on Manhattan). Daughter Spencer’s an up and coming lawyer. And Tibby’s best friend/confidant’s Hank Hadley. Yep, THE Hank Hadley, world-class fashion designer. And maybe best of all, Jack doesn’t seem to mind that Tibby spends so much time with a man — in part because Hank is gay. That his companion of 31 years died recently makes Hank even more available.

Jack prefers to stay at home. Hank and Tibby paint the town so much she has to write “regrets only” replies to the soirees and fundraisers she can’t attend.

Tibby’s so fashion conscious, she’s over-the-top-and-through-the-woods, as when she asks, “It’s a bit chilly out. Do I need a bracelet?”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Jack’s got a sense of humor too. When the Oval Office phones him to fine-tune the Federal Marriage Amendment, he says it was “the President of the United States — or, at least some of them.”

It’s 2006. President George W. Bush wants to enact an amendment defining marriage as “solely of the union of a man and a woman.” Self-satisfied Jack, who could give a hoot about marriage equality, jumps at the chance, as does Spencer, though she wants to know both sides.

Apolitical Tibby just jumps. While Hank gets an idea taken from Douglas Turner Ward’s one-act “reverse mistrel show,” Day of Absence, in which all the African-Americans disappear from a Southern town, leaving white folks to forge for themselves. Hank’s thought: what if, in protest to the amendment against gay and lesbian marriage...

Regrets Only questions how to define love in person and under the law. But Rudnick presents his theme like a Midwestern tourist testing the shore-break at P.B. — toe in, toe back: marriage for all; marriage sucks; love is love and not fade away. It’s a scatter-gunned, passive-aggressive, take your pick approach. If he makes a major assertion, as if afraid he’s offended someone, he immediately undercuts it with a joke.

But ah — the jokes! At least a third generates depth-charge roars, which gives Regrets Only one of the best comedic batting averages in years.

But how to play them? The characters are, at the same time, looney tunes and hurting human beings. So tone everything down?

For Diversionary, director Jessica John offers a sparkling alternative: make BOLD choices. First and foremost, the McCulloughs, their maid, and Hank are performers. Always on stage, relentlessly theatrical, they act as if in a “Lives of the Rich and Famous” reality series. But when the pain hits, the masks fall.

No weak links in the cast: Kerry McCue (a new face locally) somehow makes Tibby puddle-deep and touching. Andrew Oswald does his best work to date as Hank, and has a real knack with asides. Charles Maze as straight-laced Jack, Teri Brown as the intrusive maid, Myra, ever-versatile Rachael VanWormer as Spencer, and a whacko cameo by Dagmar Krause Fields (in one of Peter Herman’s classic fright wigs) as Marietta. None go gently to that spotlight, and credit the director for precise, and hilarious, ensemble work.

Special mention: do a show about a world class designer? Better bring the goods. Alina Bokovikova’s costumes elegantly fill the bill, as do a jewelry showcase window’s worth of diamonds.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Fr. Robert Maldondo was qualified by the call

St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church pastor tried to pull a Jonah
Next Article

Climbing Cowles toward the dawn

Chasing memories of a double sunrise
Charles Maze and Andrew Oswald in Regrets Only at Diversionary.
Charles Maze and Andrew Oswald in Regrets Only at Diversionary.

Regrets Only

You’d think Tibby has it all. Husband Jack’s a mover/shaker attorney. They have a posh-plus, Upper East Side apartment (which, in Matt Scott’s fine set for Diversionary, looks down on Manhattan). Daughter Spencer’s an up and coming lawyer. And Tibby’s best friend/confidant’s Hank Hadley. Yep, THE Hank Hadley, world-class fashion designer. And maybe best of all, Jack doesn’t seem to mind that Tibby spends so much time with a man — in part because Hank is gay. That his companion of 31 years died recently makes Hank even more available.

Jack prefers to stay at home. Hank and Tibby paint the town so much she has to write “regrets only” replies to the soirees and fundraisers she can’t attend.

Tibby’s so fashion conscious, she’s over-the-top-and-through-the-woods, as when she asks, “It’s a bit chilly out. Do I need a bracelet?”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Jack’s got a sense of humor too. When the Oval Office phones him to fine-tune the Federal Marriage Amendment, he says it was “the President of the United States — or, at least some of them.”

It’s 2006. President George W. Bush wants to enact an amendment defining marriage as “solely of the union of a man and a woman.” Self-satisfied Jack, who could give a hoot about marriage equality, jumps at the chance, as does Spencer, though she wants to know both sides.

Apolitical Tibby just jumps. While Hank gets an idea taken from Douglas Turner Ward’s one-act “reverse mistrel show,” Day of Absence, in which all the African-Americans disappear from a Southern town, leaving white folks to forge for themselves. Hank’s thought: what if, in protest to the amendment against gay and lesbian marriage...

Regrets Only questions how to define love in person and under the law. But Rudnick presents his theme like a Midwestern tourist testing the shore-break at P.B. — toe in, toe back: marriage for all; marriage sucks; love is love and not fade away. It’s a scatter-gunned, passive-aggressive, take your pick approach. If he makes a major assertion, as if afraid he’s offended someone, he immediately undercuts it with a joke.

But ah — the jokes! At least a third generates depth-charge roars, which gives Regrets Only one of the best comedic batting averages in years.

But how to play them? The characters are, at the same time, looney tunes and hurting human beings. So tone everything down?

For Diversionary, director Jessica John offers a sparkling alternative: make BOLD choices. First and foremost, the McCulloughs, their maid, and Hank are performers. Always on stage, relentlessly theatrical, they act as if in a “Lives of the Rich and Famous” reality series. But when the pain hits, the masks fall.

No weak links in the cast: Kerry McCue (a new face locally) somehow makes Tibby puddle-deep and touching. Andrew Oswald does his best work to date as Hank, and has a real knack with asides. Charles Maze as straight-laced Jack, Teri Brown as the intrusive maid, Myra, ever-versatile Rachael VanWormer as Spencer, and a whacko cameo by Dagmar Krause Fields (in one of Peter Herman’s classic fright wigs) as Marietta. None go gently to that spotlight, and credit the director for precise, and hilarious, ensemble work.

Special mention: do a show about a world class designer? Better bring the goods. Alina Bokovikova’s costumes elegantly fill the bill, as do a jewelry showcase window’s worth of diamonds.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Design guru Don Norman’s big plans for San Diego

The Design of Everyday Things author launches contest
Next Article

Owl Be Damned poised to take flight

400,000 names and a 40-minute set later, the band is finally ready to record
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.