THEATER REVIEW: “The Dixie Swim Club” – five women in the water of life
A toast to lifelong friends: L-r, Nancy Starke, Lois Bourgon, Natalia Schroeder, Ann Tyler Allen, and Shirley Anne Hatton. Photo by Stephan Cooper
Once upon a time, in a faraway galaxy called Youth, five Southern teenaged girls were members of the same swim team, and apparently the camaraderie and group spirit was so binding that they agreed to meet every August for a long weekend at a beachside cottage on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Their story now spans several decades.
That’s the kick-off premise of “The Dixie Swim Club,” a light comedy by Nicholas Hope, Jamie Wooten, and Jessie Jones. It opened last Friday at the Manhattan Beach Community Church Theatre and there are three more shows this weekend.
Directed by Jack Messenger, “The Dixie Swim Club” stars 1) Lois Bourgon as Lexie Richards, whose character – close your eyes and picture this – resembles a Mamie Van Doren or a Jayne Mansfield as an exaggerated Southern belle. Lexie is all about Lexie, and she’s big on disposable husbands; 2) Shirley Anne Hatton as Vernadette Simms, who portrays – subjectively speaking – the least appealing of the five characters, sort of a cross between hillbilly and trailer trash, but with a good heart. Hatton’s comedic timing and her vocal projection are spot-on, and she’s simply the funniest with her deadpan lines; 3) Natalia Schroeder as Jeri Neal, who has surprised her friends (years earlier) by entering a convent and then, as the play opens, has surprised them once more by having exited the convent and becoming very, very pregnant; 4) Nancy Starke as Sheree Hollinger, formerly the swim team captain and still trying to oar the boat. She’s also a health foods and fitness devotee, although whatever snacks she’s been fixing for the others apparently tastes godawful; and 5) Ann Tyler Allen as Dinah Grayson, an attorney who has devoted her life to her profession only to have it turn sour as – oops, am I giving something away?
The entire play is set in the ocean-view front room of the beach cottage, and there are several comings and goings, all of them a few years apart, the first when the women are roughly 44 and the last, spanning 33 years, when they’re approaching 77 years old.
Their motto for the weekend seems to be “No men, no kids, no work, just us girls,” and clearly their aim is simply to relax and reminisce, to have a few drinks and a couple of good meals, to catch up on the past year’s events, and of course to spend time in the water. They remind themselves of something their coach once said or inspired, “The faster we swim, the sooner we win.”
Occasionally the friends bicker or exchange harsh words, but like siblings they stick with one another in the face of life’s adversities. And naturally, over the course of several decades, there are many personal ups and downs and crises. In this world it is good to have allies. We see the characters age, although they don’t necessarily seem to do so at the same rate. Also, as a viewer, one might quibble that they don’t all look to be about the same age. If I’m not mistaken, Schroeder looks a good decade or two younger than the others. On the other hand, her character is the most exuberant and bubbly, and she seems to end up the happiest.
The play teems with funny one-liners and this production moves along remarkably well. The actresses do a nice job of keeping the show lively and upbeat.
There’s a sobering final scene (after all, frailty and aging are built into the premise), but even so the humor only drops one notch, from sweet to bitter-sweet. It’s a pleasant experience, another pleasant experience I should say, from an often undervalued or overlooked theater group that often surprises with the quality of their shows. This one is light and fluffy, but it’s entertaining from start to finish.
“The Dixie Swim Club” is being performed at 8 p.m. on Friday and at 2 and 8 p.m. on Saturday in the Manhattan Beach Community Church Theatre, 303 S. Peck Road, Manhattan Beach. Tickets, $20 general; $10 students and children. (800) 838-3006 or go to mbcctheater.com.