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Christopher Durang’s contemporary family comedy The Marriage of Bette and Boo is acelebration of human imperfection. This month it finds a complementaryimperfection in a production at the Boulevard Theatre. Paul Madden stars asMatt, a nice guy trying to make sense of his family. Anne Miller and Ken Dillonplay his parents, the title characters Bette and Boo. Dillon is likable asMatt’s vacant, alcoholic father, and Miller has an undeniable sweetness in therole of his mother, who wants nothing more than to raise a large family.
The ensemble includes seven other actors portrayinga priest and Matt’s four grandparents and two aunts. David Flores, who playsthe priest, also makes cameo appearances as a doctor. Amid the more negativeend of the drama and the more caustic end of the comedy, Floresdoes a brilliant job of providing straight-ahead comic relief. As presented by Flores, the parade of miscarriages plaguing Bettecleverly bridges laughter and tragedy.
Directed by Mark Bucher, the production is as bareas they come. Minimal set, props and costuming amplify the humanity of imperfectpeople managing the best they can.
Boulevard Theatre’s The Marriage of Bette and Boo runs through Jan. 2, 2010.
