Consider five powerful business-savvy professional women being locked up in DELVAL (Delaware Valley Correctional Facility), a very low-security prison that is more of a “boutique” spa than a jail.
The cells are referred to as “suites,” where the residents come and go at their leisure, order gourmet foods, have afternoon cocktails and enjoy maid service rendered by guard Lucille (B.T. Bauer). All the inmates are very rich female entrepreneurs (attorney, doctor, MBAs) guilty of “white collar,” or in this case, “pink collar” crimes.
At the opening of Delval Divas, presented by Tavares Community Theater, Beth (Michelle Buchler) is having a meltdown because she is being released and doesn’t want to leave. Her cellmates Stella (Angel Allen), Rosemary (Marcia Gideos) and Linda (Noel Miner), along with the guard try to console her and forcibly make her leave. Beth is replaced by Sharon (Cindy Stewart), who professes her innocence of murdering her ex’s girlfriend and is a total basket case for being incarcerated.
The news comes that the prison is being closed due to lack of funding, the women will be transferred to a regular facility and Lucille will lose her plush job. As the story unfolds, the prison warden is suspected of embezzling the money the women used to fund DELVAL to keep their good life.
Can they keep living their life of luxury? Will Sharon go to the “chair?” This satire, comedy and heartache, by Barbara Webber, will make a delightful matinee or evening of fun. The set designer has done a masterful job with the illusion of a jail, but with all the comforts of a luxury hotel. Director Dennis Gleason’s choice of actors is well-founded and a good role match.
For tickets, go to www.tavarestheater.org. The show runs through Sunday, Aug. 26 on weekends.
Villager Donald Simson reviews local theater for Villages-News.com.
