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"Sunday on the Rocks" at Women's Theatre Project as Fun as an Early Morning Drink

A lot can happen in one day, especially if the morning begins by getting wasted on a bottle of scotch. The three roommates in Theresa Rebeck’s Sunday on the Rocks do just that, and it’s no surprise when things don’t go down as smoothly as the liquor. All three have...
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A lot can happen in one day, especially if the morning begins by getting wasted on a bottle of scotch. The three roommates in Theresa Rebeck’s Sunday on the Rocks do just that, and it’s no surprise when things don’t go down as smoothly as the liquor.

All three have major problems: Elly (Jacqueline Laggy) is newly pregnant with a kid she doesn’t want to a boyfriend she doesn’t love; Jen (Pilar Uribe), who shirks serious relationships in favor of one-night-stands, is trying to fend off a lecherous and certifiable coworker; and Gayle (Lela Elam) can’t even bring herself to phone a potential date, satisfied to be the peacemaking interlocutor between her increasingly on-edge roommates.

Then there’s the fourth member of this pitiful household: Jessica (Dyani Batcheller), whom we meet much later, is a naïve and condescending Catholic who fails to recognize that the sexless relationship she’s fostered for years with her beau is on the brink of collapse.

It sounds like grim stuff, but this production is one of the year’s snappiest and funniest, providing ample opportunity for the capable ensemble to express their comedic chops. Laggy, in particular, has never been better, but all four actresses embody every complex emotion, from gleefully sloshed sisters-in-arms to confessional sad sacks to prickly verbal warriors.

The theater’s redesigned interior space contains one of its best sets in some time – a well-furnished living room leading to a leaf-strewn porch.

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