MORRISBURG – Meet five extraordinary women. Share in their lives, their loves, their adventures…and the joys of friendships that have lasted decades. And along the way, enjoy some hilarious dialogue and some truly delightful comedy.
Upper Canada Playhouse is presenting ‘The Sweet Delilah Swim Club,’ by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, directed by Donnie Bowes. The production is on stage until July 27. It is a show audiences are already in love with, judging by the cheers and ovations that have greeted the cast.
Five women, who were brought together by a beloved coach in college, created a swim team that would capture medals and honours in meets across the States. Their motto: “The faster we swim, the sooner we win!” And out of their time as champion swimmers grew friendships that have lasted decades. Every year they gather at Sweet Delilah Cottage by a Southern lake to reminisce, share their latest adventures – marital and otherwise – and catch up on each other’s lives. And lucky audiences get to share in all the fun, and even the occasional touching moment.
Audiences are introduced to quite a collection of very different women, with radically different lives.
Jeri Neal (Debra Hale) has been – unlikely as it sometimes seems to the others – in a convent for years. But life has not passed her by, and she joyously meets with her friends at Sweet Delilah. “She is the most non-judgemental woman I have ever met,” one buddy comments. One year Jeri will have even more to share.
Sheree (Viviana Zarrillo) is a bit of a neatnik, and an almost compulsive organizer of activities and outings. She is also a health food fanatic, who happily lectures everyone on the benefits of soy bean pastes and “natural” products, when all many of them want to do is enjoy a cocktail… or several.
Lexi (AnnaMarie Lea) has had so many face lifts and enhancement operations, that her plastic surgeon is on speed dial. If it’s male, over 18 and breathing, she is interested. A string of ex husbands does not dismay her. And flirting, even with friends husbands, certainly doesn’t affect her. As one friend comments, “If all your exes were off limits, there wouldn’t be an available man in the South.” Yet Lexi is cheerful, outgoing and a faithful friend.
Dinah (Susan Greenfield) is a tough lawyer, rising in her firm, who does not take lightly to nonsense, from anyone. She has plenty of advice for her friends – wanted or unwanted. “I’m aggressive, which is why I’m a good lawyer.”
Vernadette (Andrea Risk) has been married for years, a mother and a grandmother. The only problem, her children tend to wander on to the wrong side of the law. What woman wants to tell her friends that one of her offspring is up for “Inmate of the Year.”
Sharing life experiences with these five wonderful women is a a real joy for the audience. The witty humour, the very distinctive personalities that make each character memorable, experiencing the joys of years of friendship they share make this a play to sit back and love.
Of course, if you happen to toss in a hurricane in Act 2, and the possibility that Sweet Delilah cottage may lie directly in its path, and also include one or two rather dramatic changes in some friends’ lives, why that just adds to all the excitement. Come to Upper Canada Playhouse: meet Jeri, Sheree, Lexie, Dinah and Vernadette. You’ll be very glad you did.
“The faster we swim, the sooner we win!”
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