Press
Theater review: “The Dixie Swim Club”
by by Melinda Calvert
Published October 1, 2009
The West Coast premiere of “The Dixie Swim Club” is a captivating experience. The play, about five friends who reunite every year to catch up on each other’s lives, focuses on four of those weekends scattered over a thirty-five year period. It is, at times, hilarious beyond words, and audiences seem to relate to it very easily. The situations these women experience are so very much like everyday life that no one (even the guys) fails to see the humor. But, somehow, it becomes even funnier when seen onstage.
The five women were members of a college swim team, with ties so strong that they became lifelong friends. All five drop everything to spend one long weekend in August every year at a neat little beach cottage on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, to do a little swimming and enjoy each other’s company. Their lifestyles may be vastly different these days, but they share a lasting common bond.
Sheree (Gina Stickley), the Dixie Swim Club captain, is still the leader, in a way. She is about as organized as a person can get, and the other girls continue to let her “do her thing.” Dinah (Ann Tyler Allen), the “wise-cracking over-achiever,” is a successful attorney, but her personal life is a little less than exciting. The blonde bombshell, Lexie (Lois Bourgon), on the other hand, enjoys being married, and has been — over, and over, and over (Pssst! It must be all that attention she pays to her looks.).
Vernadette (Nicshelle Farrow) is the one in the group whose life doesn’t seem to go “swimmingly,” but she does her best to rise above the hardships of her experiences. Then there’s the saintly, eager-to-please but always late Jeri Neal (Cindy Shields), who rounds out the quintet.
Besides “Dixie Swim Club,” the writers, Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope, and Jamie Wooten, also gave us “Dearly Beloved,” “Christmas Belles,” and “Southern Hospitality.” Their award-winning play “Dearly Departed” was adapted to film as “Kingdom Come.” They are considered to be among the most widely-produced comedic playwrights in America.
The show is directed by Jim Hormel and produced by Gia Jordahl. Amyanne Duncan handles lighting, Cary Jordahl is the scenic/video designer, and Diana Mann designed the costumes.
