Crowded Kitchen Player’s touching and tragic new play “Twilight in the Park” takes tough look at how onset of dementia can rip families apart
Presented by Crowded Kitchen Players at the Charles A. Brown Ice House, 56 River St., Bethlehem, through June 16, regional playwright Paul Kodiak’s moving and thoughtful play takes an unflinching look at the devastating effect mental illness can have on loved ones.
John Corl is heartbreaking as Army veteran Oscar, who is the one struggling with dementia. Corl skillfully conveys Oscar’s inner turmoil as he grapples with his overwhelming memories of his time in World War II that threaten to make him relive the war.
As Oscar’s wife Lucy, Pamela Wallace also effectively conveys a wide range of emotions. She is in love with her husband of more than 50 years but is helpless and frustrated when she feels like she can no longer find “her Oscar.”
Audiences get a poignant glimpse of Corl’s Oscar before dementia began taking over, in a flashback from four years earlier. In the flashback, Oscar is sweet, playful and romantic with an attentive Lucy when they have a rendezvous on a park bench after Oscar gets off work..