For its final show of the season, the Rome Community Theater, 8911 Turin Road, presents a show about individuals in the final years of their lives in what is described as a light drama by the name of “Geezers.”

Light drama is an interesting description for it. From that very description, some might not know exactly what show they’re going to get. Well, what they can expect is indicative in the very first scene, in which a nurse and an older man exchange familiar pleasantries in an easygoing manner that induces warm, knowing chuckles.

Once she’s escorted him out to bed, however, she sits quietly in his chair and weeps. It’s an early introduction to the sadness buried within a story that presents itself initially as sweet and sometimes humorous.

What is most commendable about the production itself is the lived-in aspects of almost every piece of the production. As the curtain opens and the lights come up upon the set, you immediately feel the atmosphere of where all of the story takes place. The sofa, chairs, office area are given a space and a depth that speaks to the environment in which these Geezers live out their days.

This extends to the actors themselves that portray the inhabitants of this retirement home.

Each actor playing one of these Geezers in performance feels right at home in a place like this, a sentiment that I sincerely hope comes across as the compliment I intend it to be.

Their interplay amongst each other invokes the feeling that they’ve lived together for
years, each with their own personalities and character. The actors work well together, and
working with their director Arnold Galin they create an atmosphere that is lived-in in its texture, from the look of the stage picture to the sound, to the chaotic and unrefined overlapping conversations they have.

You feel yourself there together with these Geezers.

And suddenly thrust into the lives of these here Geezers is a young man named Jack, who’s given the job of caring for these Geezers despite his crippling social anxieties. Jack begins as a withdrawn character, with a performance that emphasizes that aspect of his personality.

Jack confides in a nurse that serves as his superior named Gina that people of the world as a whole largely disappoint him, and we feel that as he says it. But over time, as he begins to talk to, listen to, and write the story of these Geezers, he begins to learn a little bit about them and a little bit about himself. Much as we’ve seen in the opening scene, hidden in the everyday commonality of each person’s life is discrete individual sadness and heartache, and secrets that are held deep inside until they’re old and gray.

It comes out in different ways for different people over the course of the play, and some may even emotionally resonate with the themes so rawly, honestly presented. There’s a moment where Jack quietly walks through a set full of depth, taking a moment to take in the ephemera of the Geezers scattered throughout the home. It’s a moment that really feels like he’s found a new home here, finding a place for himself in a home that feels lived in, a place among these Geezers.

In the end, Geezers is about finding a diamond in the rough. Each of the Geezers, the nurse Gina with her own issues, anxious adolescent Jack, they all have a shining diamond hidden deep inside that needs to be dug out of them to shine in the light. They may be imperfect and unrefined, but there’s something special about them to be shared with the audience to feel all of those feelings alongside them.

You can see these Geezers for yourself tonight at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, June 5, at 2:30 p.m.; as well as Saturday, June 11, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday June 12, at 2:30 p.m.

NOTE: This review is provided courtesy of the Rome Community Theater and reviewer A.J. Parker.