Excerpt from ARDOR OF
CHANGE
(New York Times Theater Review, June 10, 1985.)
by Mel Gussow
(First paragraph begins with a reference to "...followed by a delirious cartoon by Shel Silverstein
called ‘One Tennis Shoe'")
The setting brightens for Mr. Silverstein's "One Tennis Shoe," a wild card of a comedy. In a café, a
stylishly dressed woman (Janet Zarish) launches into an interminable story. Her dapper husband
(James Tolkan) interrupts, apologetically, to assert that his spouse is "turning into a bag lady."
Naturally the charge seems ridiculous. As it turns out, the wife is even worse off than her mate
imagined, as Mr. Silverstein dashes past Christopher Durang country and lands somewhere near
surrealism. Yes, he goes too far, but in this case too far is funnier.
As led by Art Wolff, the author's closely allied director, the actors are drollness personified. Even as
she reveals the most far-fetched secret, Miss Zarish never relinquishes her poise and Mr. Tolkan,
faced with the enormity of his wife's confession, reacts with a hilarious range of expressions.
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