Playhouse 22 Goes to "Extremes" During On The Edge Series

If you look at the section of Playhouse 22’s website dedicated to its “On the Edge” production series, you will learn that the theater considers the series, “an opportunity for directors to present lesser known or smaller works,” and to emphasize the play and the acting over more technical theatrical elements.

Perhaps no play fits such a mission statement better than William Mastrasimone’s “Extremities,” which opened on Friday, March 16, as the series’ next installment. And perhaps no one is more thankful for that fit than the production’s director.

“I didn’t think any theater would ever go for it,” said Deborah Pedretti, who is directing at the playhouse for the first time. “I’ve been trying to propose it to may theaters over the years and they all said it was too heavy. I proposed it here, and they said yes.”

The play’s reputation as an intense evening of theater is well deserved. “I’ve wanted to direct this who for about 20 years,” Pedretti said, as she recalled seeing the original off-Broadway production starring Susan Sarandon in 1982. “It’s one of those pieces that stays with you long after.”

As the play opens, a man enters a home occupied by a single woman. His intentions, initially ambiguous, soon become terrifyingly clear. A brutal attack follows, but with an unexpected outcome; the victim turns the tables on her attacker, and soon finds herself in complete physical control of her potential rapist.

Amazingly, this is not a spoiler. The main action of the piece follows the aftermath of this reversal of fortune. As the woman’s two female roommates come home, arguments rage over the attacker’s just fate. These arguments expose fissures in the roommates’ relationships, which the attacker attempts to manipulate in order to secure his escape.

Playhouse 22 audiences will remember Pedretti as Florence from the first production at the theater’s Cranbury Road location, the female version of "The Odd Couple."

“I started in theater when I was about five,” Pedretti said. “I started in musicals mostly and I matriculated over into drama and started directing about twenty years ago.”

After 20 years of waiting, Pedretti is very much enjoying seeing the play come to life. “I think the material is as important today as it ever was,” she said. “It’s a timeless piece.

“The thing that really intrigued me as we got more heavily in the work is that it’s written in such a fine way so that regardless of what’s going on you can feel sympathy for every character regardless of where they’re coming from, even Raul (the attacker). Especially Raul. How did he become this way. What made him this way?"

And with a week of rehearsals to go, Pedretti is already overjoyed by the results. “It’s turned out beyond my wildest dreams,” she said. “I never thought I’d be able to compile a cast that was as good as the original cast. And in my opinion, they are. When you see it, you’ll agree.”

“Extremities” opened at  on Friday, March 16, and runs through Sunday, March 25. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. The play is not appropriate for children. All General Admission Tickets are $12, and seating is limited.  For more information or to purchase tickets, 732-254-3939 or visit www.playhouse22.org.