Director Peggy Lord Chilton and the cast of Lakeside Little Theatre’s production of “Wrong Turn at Lungfish” have done an excellent job transforming a rather lackluster script into an entertaining production, despite potentially sensitive subject matter and occasionally risqué material which, to judge by a few empty seats after intermission, may upset some audience members.
Written in 1993 by director, writer and producer Garry Marshall (Happy Days, Mork & Mindy, Beaches, Pretty Woman) & screenwriter Lowell Ganz (The Odd Couple, Splash, Parenthood), the play was initially panned by critics and it’s difficult to argue with the consensus that it would be more appropriate as a TV sitcom than a stage play. 
The interesting, if implausible, plot contains all the stock sitcom ingredients. It’s humorous and occasionally thought-provoking but sadly, somewhere early in Act II the badinage all but disappears when Ravenswaal’s side of the conversation assumes all the timbre, pace and attention-grabbing interest of a long-winded college lecture. The play’s title is explained when he is holding forth about the theory of human evolution.
The curtain opens to a realistic, aseptic green New York City hospital room where aging widower and former Professor Peter Ravenswaal, expertly played by Kenneth Bridges, lies in bed. An irascible, elitist individual, he is coming to terms with his recent blindness and the fact that he’s dying.
Beryel Dorscht is compelling as the feisty Nurse with the unenviable task of coping with the professor’s rudeness, who is well up to the job and brooks no nonsense. Her demeanor when handling her patient’s superciliousness is very amusing and the pair’s skillfully played interaction is a delight to watch — and hear!
Tina Leonard’s portrayal of the pretty, uneducated but street-smart Anita Merendino is unforgettable. Her astute interpretation, complete with nasal intonation, is convincing, beautifully timed and a joy to watch, as she plays the young girl who comes to read Schopenhauer, Baudelaire, Keats and T.S. Eliot to the Professor.
Naive or intuitively wise by turn, she ignores Ravenswaal’s rudeness and when she heats up the literary menu, we begin to see the real man behind the stifling mask.
In Act II when Anita’s brutish boyfriend, Dominic de Caesar (Ken Yakiwchuk), bursts on to the stage, his tattooed and muscular physique causes something of a stir among the female members of the audience. Apparently he has somehow scaled the wall of the hospital, managed to successfully identify the correct room and enter via the window!
Yakiwchuk’s performance is exceptional. Bullying and charming by turns, his character is a complex mix of charmer, opera-lover, petty thief and dangerous thug and he nails it beautifully.
The main thread of the storyline however, belongs to Ravenswaal and Anita. Despite the wide disparity in their ages, social status and education, this unlikely pair begin to reveal the limitations, weaknesses, frustrations and compromises which have influenced their lives. They eventually draw much from each other’s insightful experiences.
Bridges and Leonard’s interaction is adeptly played and well blocked, with Leonard’s frequent and energetic roaming around the stage creating a clever counterpoint to Bridge’s blind, cautious groping and furniture barging.
The scriptwriters’ proclivity for over-simplification and over-explanation of Ravenswaal’s comments — presumably a prerequisite for TV sitcoms — became irritating as the play progressed while, it must be said, the Professor’s tediously long ‘monologues’ would have benefitted from rather more inflection and pace, to maintain the audience’s interest.
At curtain call, the decision to leave Ravenswaal lying ‘in state’ while the other three actors took their bows, is questionable and, given the weird apparition of the corpse struggling out of bed to take his bow, ill considered.
Overall though, this excellent cast more than compensates for the occasional flaws in the script, and tedious orations, with a very funny and polished performance.
Stage Manager: Beth Leitch. Set Design: Peggy Lord Chilton, Alan Bowers. Construction: Richard Bansbach, Alan Bowers, Jonathan Kollin, Niels Petersen, Terry Soden, Nick Van Dinter, Ian White. Painting: Alan Bowers, Elizabeth Reinheimer, Linda Ball, Roberta Hilleman. Props: Nancy Sollosy, Sharon Lowry, Lois Atkins. Wardrobe: Lois Cugini. Dresser: Elizabeth Reinheimer. Sound: Karen Lee. Lighting: Pierre Huot, Jonathan Kollin. Makeup: Maryanne Gibbard, Sandy McKoy.