Family drama also has comedy — just like yours!

by Mark Lord qboro contributor

For Rosemary Kurtz, “Making God Laugh,” now in mid-run at Douglaston Community Theatre, is the latest in a long line of dramatic roles that have kept her front and center on local stages for years. The show marks the dramatic debut for fellow cast member Tara Mangione.

In the play, under the direction of Joe Marshall, Kurtz and Mangione play mother and daughter, respectively, and, by all accounts, their relationship is not a simple one. In fact, Marshall refers to it as “unhealthy.”

Kurtz is Ruthie, who, the actress said, “is domineering. She likes to control people. Her daughter wants to be her own person.” She calls Ruthie’s relationship with her daughter “a little cold, a little contentious. They’re very different people.”

The play, Kurtz continued, is “a slice of life.” Written by Sean Grennan, it follows one typical American family over the course of 30 years’ worth of holidays, beginning in 1980.

To help her bring her character to life, “There are many things I can draw from my own life,” Kurtz said. “I certainly had a difficult relationship in my family.” And Ruthie, who ages from 50 to 80 during the course of the play, begins to develop dementia, an illness with which Kurtz is all too familiar. Both her parents died with it.

Mangione, a native of Little Neck, says the young woman she plays, Maddie, “is very close to my personality. I’m acting but not acting.”

She went on to say that Maddie is “very outspoken, the black sheep of the family. She goes to New York to pursue her dreams” of becoming an actor.

In some ways, Mangione’s not like her character at all. “I have a wonderful relationship with my mother,” she said, but admitted that there has been “a little bit of tension with other family members.”

The cast is rounded out by Matt Benincasa, James Brautigam and Christopher Tyrkko as other members of the family. Despite many tense moments, Marshall refers to the play as a “family comedy drama.” When he initially read the play, which was first performed in 2011 and is just now making its New York City debut, “I thought it was very funny, very relatable.”

It’s “very current,” he added, saying that audiences will likely have much to take away from the performances. Marshall hopes, among other things, they will feel more strongly about the importance of unconditional love and acceptance. “It’s something we need right now.”

Through gatherings at Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and Easter, each 10 years apart, the family reveals a great deal about their plans as well as some dark secrets.

Some of Ruthie’s secrets are hidden from her family, Kurtz said. “We soon see she has a lot of darkness in her past.”

That is one of the reasons Marshall was drawn to the play. “That just fascinated me so much, how she treats her kids by suppressing her natural tendencies,” he said.

Advertisements for the play warn of “mild adult language.” Still, Marshall says it is appropriate for most everyone. “In this day and age, there’s nothing they haven’t heard before,” he said.

Remaining performances at Zion Episcopal Church Parish Hall (at 243-20 Church St., off Douglaston Parkway in Douglaston) are on Nov. 10, 11 and 18 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 11 and 19 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $22, or $20 for students and seniors. For more information, go online to dctonline.org or call (718) 885-4785. Q