Over The Tavern at Olney Theatre Center

Over The Tavern

Olney Theatre Center
2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd. Olney

Precocious 12-year-old Rudy believes that we were put on earth “to have fun.” He refuses to be force-fed rules and values from anyone – not from his parents and especially not from Sister Clarissa.

Thru - Oct 21, 2012

Price: $44 - $49

Show Type: Comedy

Box Office: 301-924-3400

Running Time: 2 hrs, 15 mins with 1 intermission

www.olneytheatre.org

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Over The Tavern Reviews

Average Rating based on 5 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Recommended

"... John Going directs this schmaltz with the requisite sense of domestic hubbub. But this is cut-rate Simon or Woody Allen, despite some nice jokes from Rudy as he sabotages his catechism with the bruising nun. (“Food for thought,” he deadpans after she smacks him in the head with a book.) Dudzick’s strategy is to create shenanigans for his screwy but lovable characters until he finds enough nerve to poke toward the real drama, the incident in the past that makes Chet so distant and angry. That doesn’t happen until an easily digestible last-minute revelation with the nun."

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- Nelson Pressley

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...Love your family, forget and forgive the sins of the past and above all be true to yourself. That is the gentle message that we find tucked into the scenes of Tom Dudzick’s Over The Tavern being presented on the Main Stage of Olney Theatre Center this fall. Directed by John Going this fond coming-of-age tale focuses on the Pazinski family, your average Catholic-Polish family living atop the tavern their father runs in 1959. At the center of the family is 12-year-old Rudy Pazinski who not only loves doing his Ed Sullivan impersonations, but has a vastly curious mind. This is all well and fine until he starts to question Sister Clarissa about why God put them on earth and starts to use his vast creativity to come up with new theories on religion. It’s as tender and touching as it is comical and entertaining."

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- Amanda Gunther

Gazette.net - Highly Recommended

"...Written by Tom Dudzick as the first in a trilogy of plays about the Pazinski family, one could describe it as “Leave it to Beaver” meets Eugene O’Neill with a little Neil Simon thrown in for laughs. It all centers around 12 year-old Rudy Pazinski, his family and his trials and tribulations with the Catholic Church and memorizing his catechism. If you happen to be a tried and true Catholic who has never found it necessary to question church doctrine, this play may be offensive to you. For everyone else, it carries the ring of truth and a lot of funny moments at the expense of a traditional Catholic upbringing in the 1950s."

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- Larry Bangs

MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended

"... All in all, Over the Tavern is funny, delightful, and timeless. Even though it takes place in the 1950s, 21st Century families will relate to this coming-of-age comedy in which the Pazinski family leaves the audience with thoughts of what to question and what to accept."

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- Danielle Angeline

DCTheatreScene - Somewhat Recommended

Based loosely on the playwright’s early life and times growing up in Buffalo, New York in the 1950s, Over the Tavern is literally what it says it is. It’s a slice of 1959 life focusing on the Pazinskys, a struggling working-class family that’s crammed too close together in a small apartment perched above the neighborhood saloon where Dad tries to eke out a living.

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- Terry Ponick

Over The Tavern at Olney Theatre Center

Over The Tavern

Over The Tavern Reviews

Washington Post - Recommended

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

Gazette.net - Highly Recommended

MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended

DCTheatreScene - Somewhat Recommended

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