The Herald Bulletin

Overnight update

Entertainment

If you go

What: The Dixie Swim Club
Where: Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre, 9301 N. Michigan Road, Indianapolis
When: Now through February 12
Cost: $37-$60 (includes Chef Odell Ward’s dinner buffet, coffee, and tea)
Contact: (317) 872-9664 or www.beefandboards.com

Related Photos

  • Sharing a laugh as they reunite at a beach cottage are former teammates (from left) Vernadette (Sarah Hund), Sheree (Angela Plank), Dinah (Rita Thomas), Jeri Neal (Laurie Walton) and Lexie (Jill Kelly) in Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s production of “The Dixie Swim Club,” now on stage through Feb. 12.

    0119 comm Dixie Swim Club 1.jpg.jpg

Discussion

January 18, 2012

'Dixie Swim Club' is nice reminder that summer is coming

By Emma Bowen Meyer For The Herald Bulletin

INDIANAPOLIS — Trying to get patrons to shed their winter blues along with their thick, heavy coats, Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre is staging a production set in the Outer Banks during the dog days of summer.

As the characters try to beat the heat on the beach, time is flying by. “The Dixie Swim Club” unfolds over the course of 33 years as the same five women (who met on their college swim team) escape from the rest of the world every August to spend a long weekend together.

While many productions feature a stand-out performance by one or two actors, this ensemble cast of five truly talented individuals provides an even tone and adds realism to the show. Mirroring true life by allowing each to take center stage for a short while and then retreat to a supporting role, every character is seen as fully dimensional.

Even the illusion of aging is well played. While hair colors and styles are easily swapped with a wig, it’s the slight posture changes in the actresses that really sell the aging process.

Since the five characters couldn’t be more different -— unless, perhaps, one of them was a man — the stage is set for conflict. Angela Plank depicts a control freak who is incessantly planning and packing for everyone. Jill Kelly’s vain character is focused solely on her own appearance, her most recent divorce and the next man on the horizon.

 Rita Thomas portrays a career-driven lawyer who never made time for a family. Laurie Walton embodies a nun who left the calling to become a mother without the help of a man. Sarah Hund’s character lives a life that is thrown into constant chaos by a son who is destined for incarceration and a daughter who is drawn to cults.

Still, these unlikely friends always provide support for one another and remain loyal companions throughout a lifetime of trials. They may turn on each other once in a while, but ultimately they share their hopes, dreams and difficulties — and hold one another accountable.

Shifting between comedic and poignant moments, audiences are both entertained and encouraged to take stock of their own friendships and the fleeting nature of time. While each of the women have families that are never seen on stage, they all clearly rely emotionally on their relationships with one another.

Throughout the gambit of emotions the actresses are called to play, they are never out of their element. Although Jill Kelly plays shallow to a tee, she comfortably switches gears to a more serious state when facing her largest life challenge. Similarly Laurie Walton can move seamlessly between her young character’s disinterest in men to an older woman in love.

In the tradition of Steel Magnolias, “The Dixie Swim Club” is a mix that will likely make patrons both laugh and cry. Also, the play is a nice reminder that summer is coming and the weather will soon grow warm again.

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