Kimberly Akimbo in Danville by David Lindsay-Abaire

A reviewer wrote, "Can a sixty-two year-old actress convincingly play a sixteen-year old girl? The answer is yes -- in David Lindsay-Abaire's landscape of dysfunctional lower middle class America."

From the Role Players Ensemble website:

"... this is not a 'disease of the-week movie' and Abaire has written a moving piece with enough weight to capture the emotion of audiences as well as make them laugh. Other members of Kimberly’s rather dysfunctional family are her beer swilling blue collar dad Buddy, played by Chris Ratti, who many audience members will remember as the hard loving cowboy Beau in RPE’s Shellie award winning version of Bus Stop. Kimberly’s mom is Pattie, a self absorbed hypochondriac, nine months pregnant and immobilized with bandaged hands from recent carpal tunnel surgery. She is played by a talented newcomer, Didi Seddick, a pediatrician and resident of Danville’s Black Hawk Community. To add to the melee is Debra, Pattie’s sister, a homeless ex-con who hatches money making schemes to escape the hum drum. Debra is played by Holly Kosel, a newcomer to RPE and a Hayward resident who is a regular performer at Chanticleers. Finally there is Jeff, an awkward, nerdy16 year old and self proclaimed master of the “puzzleistic arts” who, like Kimberly, is an outcast at school. Jeff is portrayed by Nick Brunner who recently appeared as Ronnie, the bomb making AWOL GI come altar boy, in RPE’s The House of Blue Leaves."


Saw "Kimberly Akimbo" in Danville tonight, closing night - Director, Sue Trigg, the Artistic Director of "The House of Blue Leaves" I was in months ago...Wanted to lend support to the wonderful Nick Brunner, who played the nerdy boyfriend of Kimberly, a 16-year old who has aged in her body into her 60's due to a genetic disease, Progeria, and is played by Claudine Jones...So, those playing her parents are in their late 30s or early 40's, and this Kimberly is played by a real grown up who does a fantastic portrayal of a teen. Fascinating, yet again, to see the space I knew so well months ago, transformed by Bauhaus-like set decor and digital film projected backgrounds.

Wonderful to see familiar faces, and to meet one of the theater volunteers, an elegant retiree named Tina with 23 years as working wife of the most well reputed Danville vet til they sold the biz, and a pretty-pretty slenderella in jazzy skirt actress named Gigi Benson who works all the time, and, all in all - I love this theater world, and I am sticking with it.

Only sad thing - tiny audience. All that work, all that effort, and how do you keep the energy up for such a small house?

Bravo, cast and crew. Nick is going places, I can feel it.

Hugs given and received.