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By Christopher Brochon

There is an old saying in the theater; “to play comedy successfully, you must put your heart into it.” And that is exactly what you get with the current Waterworks production, Paul Elliott’s “Exit Laughing.” Imagine the Golden Girls wild bridge night with their dead friend and you’ll have a good idea of the story.

The cast includes three Waterworks veterans who, in their first scene together, bring one of the play’s funniest moments. Rosemary Pollard plays Connie, the group’s Bea Arthur and closest idea to a sound mind. Rosemary balances her character’s line of sanity and craziness perfectly. Jeffree Hudson is hairstylist Leona, the Rue McClanahan of the group. This is a role that appears to be written just for her, and she relishes in the zaniness of the character. The living members of our bridge foursome are rounded out with Martha Womack as the ditzy Millie. Martha shows, once again, comedic roles are her forte and she steals every moment she utters a line.

Our cast is completed by two new Waterworks performers. Ruth Holliday, who plays Connie’s daughter Rachel, makes her debut on the Waterworks stage. This may be her first time treading the boards, but along with a new face, she brings a very commendable and praiseworthy performance. Last, and most certainly not least, is Trenton Taylor, in only his second Waterworks show, is Bobby, the young man who goes from the bane of Rachel’s existence to full member of this group by show’s end. Trenton’s performance, as a struggling young college student shows he has the makings of a future Waterworks lead.

The cast of players is given a brilliant stage set designed by Moffatt Evans, a name anyone familiar with the waterworks players will know. Dudley Sauve, the face of the Waterworks Players for years, directs this hilarious and truly laugh out loud show with his usual finesse. Dudley has brought together the perfect cast for this show and, with the help of many behind the scenes folks, brought another winner to the community. If you missed last weekend’s opening, you owe it to yourself not to miss the show this weekend. That is if you can get a seat; ‘cause as word gets around of how funny this show is, seats will fill up fast, I guarantee that you will not only start laughing within the first 10 minutes, you will most definitely exit laughing as well.

Performances are at 8 p.m., Feb. 25 and 26. You can obtain tickets by visiting their website: waterworksplayers.org or by calling the box office at (434) 392-3452.

Christopher Brochon is the Longwood University box office manager. He can be contacted at merryoaks@mac.com.