Neighbors Jack and Lizzie are grieving. The school teachers recently have lost spouses and are having trouble moving on with their lives in the fictional town of Lenoraville, Alabama.
In their adjoining backyards, that friendship blossoms into romance in the year after Jack moves in. Both are able to come to terms with their losses and be honest about what they want for the future. That future may or may not include a clothes dryer.
Penobscot Theatre Co.’s production of “Maytag Virgin” by Audrey Cefaly is a charming story about loss, guilt and laundry. The play is an often comic journey with Jack (Sean Riley) and Lizzy (Jewell Noel) as they figuratively and literally dance around and with their budding feelings for each other.
One bone of contention is Jack’s placement of a clothes dryer on his back porch, more than a few steps from his washing machine. Lizzy insists that laundry is best dried on a line outside by the sun. She has never owned a dryer, hence the title. Another potential problem is religion. Jack is a Catholic, and Lizzy’s a Baptist. Given the play’s setting, most likely a Southern Baptist.
But the biggest obstacle in their relationship is each character’s reluctance to open up to a new relationship and risk another painful loss. Jack and Lizzy inch their way toward each other.
Director Tricia A Hobbs perfectly paces the production as Jack and Lizzy’s romance moves forward in fits and starts. The stories of their losses are revealed naturally without being forced. Hobbs keeps her actors moving all over the set so the action is never static.
Noel and Riley, both based out of state, work well together but there’s little romantic spark between them. That doesn’t really hamper the production, it just feels a bit odd to see so little passion ablaze between them.
Riley’s Jack is charming, funny and needy. He opens up to Noel’s Lizzy like he’s unfolding laundry, carefully and deliberately. The actor’s energy onstage is contagious, and the audience roots for Jack to find some peace and happiness.
As Lizzy, Noel excels at portraying the character’s nervousness and trepidation at getting to know Jack as a friend, let alone as a boyfriend. The actress is mesmerizing when she opens up to Jack about the guilt she carries concerning her husband’s death.
The technical team for “Maytag Virgin” is outstanding. Chez Cherry’s intimate set lets the audience peer over an imaginary fence into Jack and Lizzy’s lives. The houses are realistic and the yards cluttered with items that define the characters. It is one of the main reasons the show works as well as it does
Scout Hough’s lighting design stunningly complements Cherry’s work. It also lets theatergoers know what time of day and year each scene takes place. The Southern summer sun is especially comforting in the throes of Maine winter.
For a play with just two characters, this show has a lot of costume changes. Costume designer Kevin Jacob Koski gives definition to the characters with their wardrobes. That is especially true for Lizzy, whose passion for life is revealed through the bright colors she wears.
“Maytag Virgin” will be performed through Feb. 27 at the Bangor Opera House, 131 Main St., Bangor. For more information, visit penobsocttheatre.org or call 942-3333.