Over the River and Through the Woods, a play written by Joe DiPietro, will open at Masquers Theater in Soap Lake on February 24.

“This play is a hilarious family comedy for everyone to enjoy. Be ready to laugh, laugh, laugh! You’re sure to be delighted from the moment you walk in the door. Enjoy!” says director Robert Barker who in his regular life is a manager at Genie Industries.

Grandmother’s boisterous Italian family dinner table is where the action takes place. Nick, played by Eric Van Woert, arrives to have dinner with all four of his grandparents as he does every Sunday evening. In this household, family ties and love are expressed with food. When generations collide over how life should be lived, there is always fettuccini alfredo. When the grandparents can’t accept their diminishing abilities, there is always provolone on fresh bread from Marzoni’s bakery, and fond but not so flattering old family stories to share with each other, or to embarrass someone. When everybody is talking and no one understanding, then it’s “Please pass the bottle of Chianti.” In spite of the joking and misunderstanding, reality pierces through like a shaft of light, which contrasts with the comedy, and enriches it in the process.

The grandparents are played by some of the Columbia Basin’s most experienced comedic actors including Bob Jasman and Cheri Barbre, who knew how to keep the audiences laughing in last year’s musical, Anything Goes. Randy Brooks who played the irascible Jewish father last season in Visiting Mr. Green, and Barbara Sloan, another Masquers’ veteran who knows her way around comedy, play the other two grandparents. Stephanie Moore plays Caitlin, a member of the younger generation.

The schedule for performances is: 8PM, February 24-25; March 3-4; 10-11; and 17-18, with Sunday matinees at 3PM on March 12 and 19. All tickets are $10. You can make reservations by calling the box-office at 246-2611.