Chapatti

Lively, long-divorced Betty, aide to a rich recluse named Peg, lives alone with 19 companion cats. Lonely, depressed Don, who wants to not just visit the grave of his long-time love Martha but to unite with her, first needs to find his dog Chapatti a caring home. We learn about Don and Betty’s memories and present feelings through intriguing monologues. They meet not-so-cute at a vet’s and then cuter when he fatally runs over Peg’s cat.<

Pretty soon each tells us of inner feelings. Betty wants to find someone “loving and lovable,” like the pets who’ve taken the place in her life of a man. Don gears up for suicide, but Chapatti won’t leave him. Will Betty do something about that? They have to keep meeting, most notably to bring Peg’s dead cat to her and face the consequences.

Don has a secret he’ll reveal--but not to Chapatti for a change. Betty tells us why she never had children, substituting for them “a cat who mastered the art of self-interest.” Finally she gets Peg involved in a plan that looks to the future, not the past.

Chapatti the play goes into traditional dramatic mode as formally dressed Don visits Betty for a dinner before which she shows us, in a very comical scene, how she primps to be sexy. Will it work? Will they find. declare, act on love as seniors? And what will happen to their pets and Peg? We see all that objectively, in their present real world, not their memories or imagination.

Not that the actors don’t stir our imaginations! Only Susan Greenhill and Colin Lane are actually onstage. Director Kate Alexander has coached them well on how to make us see animals and Peg. The longtime dynamic between Alexander and Greenhill at Florida Studio Theater again pays off handsomely. Greenhill is totally invested in her role--funny (making us laugh a lot), vivacious, guileless, off-beat but always attractive.

Lane reaches depths, often stiff or wavering, so typical of an Irishman struck by unexpected love. Writer Christian O’Reilly has both principals’ age enhance rather than spoil the romance.

The FST technical staff supports the actors and director fully, especially on a two-tiered set that uses every available space, without an intermission.