One of the great things about theatre is it can satisfy so many different parts of us depending on who we are as an audience member and what piece of work we are seeing. There are times when we need to challenged and the work is challenging. But there are also times when we need to be comforted and the work is appropriately comforting. Such was my experience seeing the delightful play Over the River and Through the Woods at PG Players this weekend. As someone who has lost all of my grandparents by 2019 when I say it was like a hug from my grandparents that’s not a small statement. What a sweet, endearing night of theatre.

If you’ve never been PG Players is a gem of a theater that exists on a tiny stage in the Pleasant Grove Library. It’s the kind of place I hope my reviews can shine a light on because the productions are almost always worthy of your time and it seems like the kind of venue that could easily go under the radar without some attention paid to it. All the productions are directed by Howard and Kathryn Little and they have a gift for getting the best out of their community theatre and that’s certainly true. It also helps that the lead actor Matthew DeLaFuente is not only excellent but has done this play before in a much praised (by yours truly) production over at the Covey in Provo.

This cast leans more into the Italian background of the characters than at the Covey but they both got the heart of the play just right probably because DeLaFuente seems to have a real handle on this character. If you’ve never seen the play before it’s about a young man named Nick who is going to tell his grandparents that he, their only grandchild living nearby, is moving from New Jersey to Seattle for a job promotion. While his grandparents drive him crazy with their antics the idea of moving is painful for all involved.

Watching this play and the wonderful performances I can’t help but tear up because there honestly is nothing like the love of a grandparent. Sure your parents hopefully love you, but they also have the burden of disciplining and instructing you in life (and providing for your well being.) Grandparents can just love. That’s all they have to do.

I truly miss my grandparents every day especially my Grandma Wagner and Grandpa Richards. They were the best, and I never doubted for a second that they loved me. Never once and that feeling is what this play captures. Some of the antics are admittedly a little sitcomy but the heart is there so I chuckle along with the characters.

The grandparents in question are played by Scott Healy, Heidi Mendez, Dennis Purdie (PG Player regular), and Melanie Muranaka. After the show Muranaka gave me a “grandma hug” because she could see I was moved and that’s emblematic of the experience of the show. Who couldn’t enjoy a grandma hug of a show?

The set by Madison Fontana is a simple apartment in New Jersey but it feels authentic to the setting with costumes by Tina Fontana who also did the props which are important particularly for the big dinner date sequence.

Over the River at PG Players is actually my 700th show since I came back to theatre after the pandemic. It seems fitting that such a warm, sweet show would be 700 because the experience of embracing theatre has been such a positive one after a dark and lonely time without it. I hope we never allow it to go away again. Certainly won’t be taken away on my watch again if I can help it. I can promise you that! This show is playing through May 11th and tickets can be purchased here. I highly recommend it!

Over the River and Through the Woods (I do think it is a strange title for this play.) is by Joe DiPietro and first premiered in 1994.

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