Kimberly Akimbo

Afflicted with the disease progeria, which causes her body to age at 4-1/2 times the normal rate, the title character in David Lindsay-Abaire's new play "Kimberly Akimbo" is 16 years old, but went through menopause years ago.

Afflicted with the disease progeria, which causes her body to age at 4-1/2 times the normal rate, the title character in David Lindsay-Abaire's new play "Kimberly Akimbo" is 16 years old, but went through menopause years ago.

Afflicted with the disease progeria, which causes her body to age at 4-1/2 times the normal rate, the title character in David Lindsay-Abaire’s new play “Kimberly Akimbo” is 16 years old, but went through menopause years ago.

In this sweetly slight piece, Kimberly represents the least quirky member of her exceptionally odd family, all of whom cope with Kimberly’s illness using their own peculiar methods of denial. Lindsay-Abaire manages to find the right tone for his comedy about mortality, and director David Petrarca’s production at South Coast Rep provides plenty of whimsy without neglecting the heartfelt nature of the work.

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The play doesn’t announce its thematic intentions very loudly, but the setup itself speaks volumes. Played with a nicely unforced ease by the veteran Marylouise Burke, Kimberly is still going through adolescence emotionally, even though she looks to be in her 60s. This is a life that’s being sped up, but in many ways it’s an extreme expression of the everyday human condition. Lindsay-Abaire smartly takes a familiar scene, like a father repeatedly promising to take his daughter to a theme park but never doing so, and turns it into something poignant and significant. Life’s short, the play is saying, and we should live it to the hilt. Life delayed is life unlived, and inaction is cowardice.

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That’s the perennial subtext here, but the surface of “Kimberly Akimbo” explores the much-trodded territory of family dynamics. Kimberly’s mother, Pattie (a terrifically offbeat Ann Dowd), is pregnant with another child, and spends much of her time speaking into a recorder so the kid will get her side of the family story. Pattie is convinced, despite an absolute absence of evidence, that she’s dying of cancer, a conviction that allows her to focus on her own mortality instead of Kimberly’s. Kimberly’s father Buddy (Steven Flynn), meanwhile, drowns himself in drink, although he still finds time to embarrass his daughter when she develops a crush on geeky, analogue-loving schoolmate Jeff (talented teenager John Gallagher Jr.).

Through her budding friendship with Jeff, Kimberly finds herself discovering what it means to enjoy life just as hers may be approaching its end. Looking for an opportunity to live a little, she’s tempted by a criminal check-kiting plot cooked up by her ex-con Aunt Debra (Joanna P. Adler).

The storyline is ultimately pretty transparent, and it’s the characters and not the plot that involve the audience. Lindsay-Abaire (“Fuddy Meers”) reveals a few family secrets — why did the family move from Secaucus to Teaneck? — that matter an awful lot to Kimberly but never become more than amusing anecdotes. It’s all pretty lightweight, but charmingly so.

Part of the charm comes from the sterling production, especially from Robert Brill’s memorable, witty set. A blue and yellow plaid playing space becomes complemented with set pieces that glide on and off. The plaid wall occasionally opens to create exterior scenes, and lighting designer Brian MacDevitt does a fine job creating a snowy scene on a park bench and then turning that park bench into a car. Martin Pakledinaz’s spot-on costumes and Jason Robert Brown’s offbeat, upbeat music also help.

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Kimberly Akimbo

South Coast Rep, Mainstage, Costa Mesa, CA; 477 seats; $49 top

  • Production: A South Coast Repertory world premiere presentation of a two-act play by David Lindsay-Abaire. Directed by David Petrarca
  • Crew: Set, Robert Brill; costumes, Martin Pakledinaz; lighting, Brian MacDevitt; music, Jason Robert Brown; sound, Bruce Ellman; dramaturg, Jerry Patch; stage manager, Randall K. Lum; casting, Joanne DeNaut. Opened April 13, reviewed April 15, 2001. Closes May 13. Running Time: 2 HOURS
  • Cast: Pattie - Ann Dowd Kimberly - Marylouise Burke Buddy - Steven Flynn Jeff - John Gallagher Jr. Debra - Joanna P. Adler

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