The Ashland University Theatre Department is excited to announce that after being canceled due to the global pandemic, they are showcasing their production of The Odd Couple: Female Edition that will be performed this semester at the Hugo Young Theatre on Thursday, Oct. 1 – Sunday, Oct. 4. 

The play is about Florence Ungar, a neurotic neat freak, who is kicked out by her husband, so her good friend Olive Madison takes her in. As the show goes on, it follows how their relationship is with one another, their friend group and of course with the attractive men who live down the hall from them.

 “I think this play is about how even though we may drive one another crazy with our quirks and different personalities, at the end of the day friendship and connection with one another is way more important than disagreements” Tiffany Sims says. 

Tiffany Sims plays the role of Florence Ungar, “a compulsive neat freak. Despite having good intentions, she drives everyone crazy with her obsession with cleaning and organizing. She likes life to be predictable and stable, but when her marriage suddenly ends, her life gets turned completely upside down.” 

Sarah Graham, and plays the role of Olive Madison. “ Olive is a television news producer who lives in a New York apartment. She is a wise- cracking, intelligent, attractive skob who’s also a complete pushover for her ex-boyfriend. While she may make fun of them, she’s a good friend who really cares for those close to her ” Graham said.

Over the summer, Graham took steps to prepare for her role should they have been able to perform in the fall. “I read through the script every now and then to make sure I kept something fresh in my mind. I would also work through some of the scenes with my parents by giving them the script so they could read the other parts for me and I would try to memorize my lines.” 

The cast and crew took many things into consideration due to all the guidelines needing to be followed due to the pandemic. For instance, “ my character Florence, is such a neat freak, I’ll be spraying things down on stage with disinfectant spray. Where before Covid, I was just going to be polishing the furniture on stage, but we decided to incorporate some Covid cleaning practices within my character”  Sims said. “ We also had to completely start over our blocking for some scenes for the show so that everyone would be six feet apart while on stage” says Graham. 

This semester, can also look forward to seeing the AU theatre department perform Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in November. 

Tickets are available for purchase at the AU Bookstore or by calling (419) 289-5336.