The underlying contemporary American ideal of “olders” rather than “elders” is an anomaly to many world cultures and permeates into our society’s perception and individuals’ experience of aging. Some do it gracefully—big hairy ears and all—others more painstakingly, lamenting lack of youthfulness. Playwright Elaine Jarvik’s latest play explores the theme of resistance to this change, albeit unavoidable, by following the male protagonist, played by David Phillips, who’s in transition downsizing from a family home to a senior-citizen setting.
Directed by Larry West, Phillips is joined by Dee Mancuso, Teri Cowan and Winkie Horman in a play slightly divergent from the mainly woman-focused Pygmalion productions. Aging affects us all, and Jarvik says the play considers “that frozen place we get into when we refuse to move on physically and emotionally.” This comedic drama, however, should be warm enough to melt any glaciered heart.
Pygmalion Theatre Company: The Coming Ice Age @ Leona Wagner Black Box Theatre, 138 West Broadway, 801-323- 6800, Oct. 21-Nov. 6, $20. ArtTix.org, PygmalionProductions.org.