Food, Family, Love and Honor in “The Movable Feast” at Shades Rep, Haverstraw

BY GEORGE J. DACRE

Samuel Harps’ new play is about an Italian family in Queens having difficulty making it with their traditional Italian restaurant is well played by an excellent cast at Shades Repertory Theatre.

The Dinellos expect help from one of their sons, Anthony, who has become celebrity chef in California but returns home to try and change things for the better. His idea is to make it a Vegetarian Italian restaurant and this idea erupts in a family squabble that involves two other brothers, Pete and Nick and their momma Louisa and their father, Peter, who has suffered a heart attack.

Throw in Rachel, their sister, who has split with her husband and taken up with an Irishman and you have a Queens story that is entertaining and is well produced and directed at Shades. The dialogue among the family is typically Queens and Italian and is all about respect, love, honor and family.

Nick Pascarella as young Pete, John De Blasio as the father, Peter, Anthony Santucci as Nick, Anthony Accomando as Anthony, and Cynthia Hoover Paoli as Rachel and Ron Schnittker as Uncle Ray do well with this story of a family’s struggles in the 70s.

It somehow winds up  with Rachel, who was being beaten by her husband, accusing the rest of the family with being adulterers including her mom and dad. Only mom denies it.

The show’s run ended earlier this month. Check out shadesrep.org for upcoming productions from the Haverstraw theatre company.

I rate “Movable Feast” 3 stars out of 4!!!