Clague Playhouse’s ‘Foolish Fishgirls and The Pearl’ flounders a bit

Let us pretend that 30 years ago when Ariel (The Little Mermaid) came on shore and fell in love she had three cousins, Coral, Oceana and Marina who believed the undersea rumors and took a chance on love. This is the plot of Barbara Pease Weber’s sea faring tale titled “Foolish Fishgirls and The Pearl” directed by Douglas A. Farren and now on stage at Clague Playhouse. Along with this play Weber has penned two other plays, “Seniors of the Sahara’ and “A Crock of Schnitzel” as well as two novels, “The Witch in 204” and “Hogwash.”

Long ago the mermaids rescued and fell in love with three sailors from a capsized ship (from a wave that they had created) lost their fins, grew legs and became land creatures. Unfortunately, none of the deep sea damsels “lived happily ever after.”

Coral’s man was a sailor from Valenzuela who was married with children, Oceana’s Norwegian guy was gay and Marina’s deck swabbing sailor assumed the title of captain and began spending her treasure on luxury items and leaving her when the money ran out.

It is early January on the New Jersey Shoreline where Coral and Oceana manage a run down B&B called “The Sea Hags” that is frequented by hanger on Floyd and Mayor/Police/Dogcatcher/City Council Sheila. Meanwhile Marina and her “captain” run the town bank and island real estate firm that is foreclosing on business owners right and left.

Suddenly, the three former mermaids simultaneously feel a tingling sensation that means that they are soon to be joined by another of their kind. Their suspicions are confirmed with the arrival of Pearl and the love of her life Coast Guardsman Nathan whom Pearl has freshly saved from a watery grave. The trio of water fairies set out to break up the romance so that Pearl will not end up with the ruined life and lost dreams that they have been suffering from.

While the story itself is cute and engaging the production suffers a bit. The characters simply do not sound comfortable with their lines. There are slight flubs and missed cues that take away from what could be a delightful romp. Fact be told, the only one not having problems with the dialogue is Caitlin Hathaway-Morgan as Pearl because she has no lines in the entire play.

On the plus side the stage set is complex and highly detailed. Those who arrive early will be delighted to spend the time discovering all of the nick-naks hidden away in the various shelving and corners. The background music at the start, between acts and closing are a collection of sea shanties familiar to most. All told, the show lasts a bit over two hours plus a fifteen minute intermission.

The cast consists of Cat R. Kenney as Coral, Craig Stadden as Floyd, Jenny Erbs as Oceana, Donna Case as Marina, Margaret Hnat as Sheila, Caitlin Hathaway-Morgan as Pearl and Zack Mitchell as Nathan. Costuming is done by Sydney DeMatteis-Geib and Dreb Geib. Jeff Lockshine is the Lighting Designer. Hanna Dougall is in charge of the props with Ron Newell the Set Designer. Lisa L. Woley is the sound designer.

Perhaps with a little polish the brass in this show can be made to shine. While the concept is cute and borders on delightful the performance and delivery needs a bit more work. As time passes hopefully the quality will go up.

“Foolish Fishgirls and The Pearl” will be on stage at Clague Playhouse located at 1371 Clague Road, Westlake, Ohio through February 6, 2022. For tickets and information go to www.clagueplayuouse.org or call (440) 331-0403.