On Stage

People today know the name Alan Ball from his oscar-winning screenplay for American Beauty and his acclaimed HBO series Six Feet Under. But before he made it in Hollywood, he was a working playwright. Naples audiences will have the chance to see one of his more successful efforts when the Naples Players present the comedy Five Women Wearing the Same Dress Oct. 26 to Nov. 19 in the Tobye Studio of the Sugden Community Theatre.

A graduate of Florida State University, Ball grew up in Georgia and spent the years right out of college in Southwest Florida, honing his comedic and writing skills with the company he co-founded (with longtime friend and Six Feet writer and co-producer Nancy Oliver), General Nonsense. The troupe presented comedy skits and longer pieces in a Sarasota theater in the 1980s before Ball headed to New York to advance his career. In 1993, Five Women debuted at Manhattan Class Company to strong reviews and has since been a popular choice for theaters around the country.

As you might guess from the title, the show revolves around a wedding-and the five bridesmaids unhappily wearing that dress. Set in Knoxville, Tenn., the play is a raucous, sometimes raunchy romp that demonstrates the playwright's gift for understanding and writing for women-especially Southern women. It was that gift, in part, that got him writing gigs on TV sitcoms Grace Under Fire and Cybill.

Five Women takes place in an upstairs bedroom during an ostentatious wedding reception as the gals, reluctant to join the party, dish the dirt, past and present, and find that, despite their differences, they have a common bond. Says Players artistic director Dallas Dunnagan, "We chose Five Women because it's a smart, amusing show by an excellent author." And the costumes might be worth a look, too.

For tickets to Five Women, call 263-7990.

-Kay Kipling