Golf club rivalries are common. But the rivalry between the Quail Valley Country Club and the nearby Crouching Squirrel Country Club is at a fever pitch. For the last five years Crouching Squirrel has won the trophy for individual club play. Quail Valley members are screaming for revenge in “The Fox on the Fairway” at the Ocala Civic Theatre.
The QV Director Henry Bingham (Anthony Palumbo) has recruited the area’s number one golfer to represent his club. Competing CS Director Dickie Bell (Jeff Cole) entices Bingham to bet his very soul on the outcome. Unbeknownst to Bingham, Bell has purloined the star to play for him.
Bingham is devastated by the switch. But, he and his Vice President Pamela Peabody (Holly Sherwood) are in luck when they find that their newly hired assistant, Justin (John Esbenshade) is a scratch golfer.
The match gets underw ay but a rain delay is called at the 17th tee. Justin has a huge lead, but also has a problem. He chokes when something unusual happens. It does. If I told you the ending I would banned from playing any of the 630 holes of golf in The Villages.
“The Fox…” is under the direction of Chip Morris so you can expect on a lot of precise physical action throughout. Characters are raised to stereotypical heights. Line pickup is excellent and snippets rivals SNL sketches.
With a veteran spirit like Cole playing the nefarious antagonist nothing can go wrong on stage insofar as the romping is concerned. Lead Palumbo plays the somewhat hapless victim well. Allison Metcalf and Emily Stranger round out the cast, but Stranger a bit more definition in her bi-polar swings.
Playwright Ken Ludwig (“Lend Me a Tenor”) give us another epic door-less farce. The play can be neatly summed up in a quote by Pamela: “Sex and golf are the only things you can enjoy without being good at them.”
The above description is sure to draw audience attention to see “The Fox on the Fairway” which plays through April 17 at the Ocala Civic Theatre. For other information, visit their www.ocalacivictheatre.org
Jack Petro reviews local theater for Villages-News.com