‘Second Time Around’ pure drivel

Henry Denker's "Second Time Around" was first produced in 1977, but it feels like an unwanted relic from the '40s.

An elderly couple, Samuel (Irv Atkins) and Laura (Marilyn Atkins) are in love, but they don't want to get married because it will lower their Social Security income. (If you go to the theater with any kind of regularity, you've likely come across this "plot" with painful regularity.)

Samuel's daughter Cynthia (Susan Brown-Wadleigh) and Laura's son Mike (Michael Morfey) go into conniptions because living together without a marriage certificate is not respectable. Denker doesn't deal intelligently with the script's main issue, and his jokes were outdated when they written.

Director Rob Dahl demonstrates no gifts for handling actors, blocking or comedic spirit. If the actors would just stop moving about aimlessly, things could be considerably improved overnight.

The Atkins are the only performers who seem to understand how to milk laughs from this sort of drivel. Marilyn creates a character who has looniness in her bones. When she says something off-the-wall you feel as if she doesn't have a clue how funny her unique brain is. And Irv comes across a bit saner, more grounded.

You understand why these two want to be together. They provide each other balance.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at DelValle@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.