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Down by the Ocean

Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy  /  2w, 4m

"Offers honest laughter...[and] characters who recall faces in your family scrapbooks." - Newark Star Ledger
"Charming and punchy." - The New Yorker

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 4m
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Period

Details

Summary

World War II is over, prosperity reigns, and it's summer in Rhode Island. Four brothers in law are on the porch of David's beach cottage. Their wives, children and grandchildren are on the beach and the fetching eighteen year old from next door who likes older men, especially David, appears. Summers later, she is a Korean war widow who continues to disrupt and bewilder the men on the porch. Dan is willing, Peter is concerned with sin, Wally just wants to hear the ball game, and David finally succumbs to her charms. Everyone grows older, heartburn flares into a heart attack, someone dies, the tide goes in and out, lives move on. By 1960 Peter owns the summer house but not much changes. Again, the men on the porch welcome the women and children back from the annual outing on the beach. This charming comedy is the flip side of the author's The Octette Bridge Club.

History
York Theatre Company, 1994. Directed by P.J. Barry.

DAVID EMERSON - 57, tall, handsome, grayhaired gentleman, in good physical shape. Owner of the sumer house.

WALLY MONAHAN - 58, a big man, slight paunch, balding. Wears a golf cap type of hat through most of the play. Wears glasses. Cigar smoker.

PETER CARMODY - 52, wiry, feisty man. Not tall. His sense of humor is minimal. Wears glasses.

DAN BAILEY - 49, tall and lanky. A born charmer. A slick dresser. Cigarette smoker.

LIL DONAVAN CARMODY - 49, pretty buxom, jolly. Peter's wife and a bit taller than her husband.

ISABELLE - 18, sensual. A beautiful figure.

  • Cautions
    • Mild Adult Themes

Media

"Offers honest laughter...[and] characters who recall faces in your family scrapbooks." - Newark Star Ledger

"Charming and punchy." - The New Yorker

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $120 per performance

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Authors

P.J. Barry

P.J. Barry may be known most notably for The Octette Bridge Club, which had a Broadway run in 1985, he has numerous credits as an actor and director, in theatre, film and television. In addition he has appeared in many TV commercials.Among Mr. Barry's many theatrical credits ...
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