S53 01 Ripcord Notes
Ripcord Director's Notes: From Collette Clavadetscher
This is my first time directing for LLT's Mainstage and it is quite different from directing for Naked Stage reader’s theatre, where I have put on 9 plays. This is mainly because of the additional elements to take into account: the set, costumes, makeup, props and blocking (how the actors move). I have always known that with a great play and a wonderful cast, most of the work is already done. Having a top-notch team behind the scenes to make it all come together is an added ingredient to success. Ripcord is a play that tickles my funny bone and touches my heart. My cast couldn’t be better suited to the parts they play.
As the New York Times said in their review, Ripcord is “David Lindsay-Abaire’s expertly engineered situation comedy about adversarial roommates in a retirement home.”
After seeing Good People a few years ago at LLT, Lindsay-Abaire has become a favorite playwright of mine. The first time I read Ripcord I had my laughing-out-loud moments and those that brought a tear to my eye as only he can. The two main players are two widows of opposing temperaments who have become roommates. As a result of the various machinations to win a bet, we learn more and more about the two women. I hope that you, the audience, have as much fun watching the play as I have had directing it.