Kimberly Akimbo – smart, edgy, hilarious
by Greg Boyle

It’s tough to come up with a title for a review when the name of the play is already catchier than anything you’re likely to write. So, I decided mostly to leave it as is. Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre (MET) has opened 2010 with the above titled production, written by David Lindsay-Abaire, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for his play Rabbit Hole. The author continues his excellent run with Kimberly Akimbo, a smart, edgy, and hilarious play.

Disclaimer: A synopsis of this show cannot do it justice. The descriptions of characters and their situations make it sound like a depressing household drama. Nothing could be further from the truth. Kimberly Akimbo is a marvelously entertaining evening. It draws you into its universe then makes you forget the rules. Because the characters take everything for granted, the audience does too. The result is a very funny tale of growing up, with a twist at the end.

(l to r) Nancy Marcy as Kimberly, Sam Cordes as Jeff and Scott Cordes as Buddy go for a ride in Kimberly Akimbo.

To call the Levaco family dysfunctional is an understatement. Dad drinks too much and doesn’t remember any of his countless promises. Mom is pregnant and needy. Scam artist and persona non grata Aunt Debra keeps turning up like a bad penny. What’s a girl to do? With a family like this, every possibility is on the table.

Our protagonist is a child-woman with a rare genetic disease which ages her 4-times faster than normal. We meet her on the eve of her 16th birthday, which is the average age when most persons with the disorder die. The actress, Nancy Marcy, portrays Kim Levaco who, unless she’s the world’s greatest makeup artist, is a middle-aged woman. After a momentary shock when we discover her character is only 16 years old, we never doubt her again. Marcy’s speech patterns and physical postures are absolutely dead-on in convincing us that she’s a young girl. Late in the show when the character adopts a “granny” costume, we’re stunned to recognize that this is what the woman really looks like. It is a terrific job of body awareness by the actress. Marcy has to play a teenager trapped in a very old body. She’s both young and old at the same time, and Marcy lets us see it. However, there is never a moment of self-pity or pathos, because Kimberly is the most well adjusted, mature character in the play. 

Kim’s father Buddy could be written as a whining, alcoholic, loser jerk. But kudos to the playwright, he’s a very likeable “regular person.” His comic rant when he suspects the motives of Kim’s boyfriend reflects the terror in the heart of every father of a teenage girl. As Buddy, Scott Cordes is so good, so real, that you recognize him as many of the men you’ve known in your life. Sam Cordes plays Jeff, Kim’s slightly weird, very smart boyfriend. He’s from a slightly off-center family too — birds of a feather and all that. The two generations of the Cordes family give us terrific presence and completely realized characters without making it look like work.

The other females in the play are “drama queens.” Jan Chapman plays the mother, Pattie, who is a hypochondriac plus some. She’s wearing bandages so she has to be waited on, and she’s always dying from something. She very effectively gives us the high maintenance mother that nobody wishes they had. Pattie’s sister Debra, played by Missy Koonce, is an absolutely over-the-top riot as Aunt Debra, a manic ball of energy ne’er-do-well.

The supporting characters are all idiosyncratic and self-absorbed, and Kimberly is the one who winds up making all the adult choices. What makes it all work is that even though the Levacos fuss and fight, they’re family, and it’s obvious through it all that they love each other. It’s what makes this a show especially worth seeing.

Bob Paisley directs with a light hand. There are quite a few moments when the actions and emotions of this play could feel forced, but it never happens. Paisley gives his fine ensemble room to be, and they respond truthfully.

The set by Greg Owen is a reflection of the chaos in the household. The walls of the Levaco residence are like Kimberly — akimbo. They have no 90-degree angles. The wallpaper is like an abstract Jackson Pollock painting. The background perfectly complements the action and speaks to the emotional state of the family.

The message in Kimberly Akimbo is that we can’t let our troubles stop us from living. We must get on with it while we can, because time goes by faster than we want it to. Kim’s life is racing past until she finally discovers that she has to take charge herself because no one else can be trusted to do it. The good news is that the play ends with a smile on Kim’s face, and on ours.

Kimberly Akimbo is playing at Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre, 3604 Main Street, through Jan. 24. For reservations, call the box office at 816-569-3226, or online at www.metkc.org.

Greg Boyle may be contacted at gbboyle@kc.rr.com.