Village Players On Par With Golf Comedy

What do you get when you mix the comedy of “Caddyshack” with the far-fetched humor of ‘70s sitcom “Fawlty Towers?” 

According to Jim Balcerek, the comedic pair have, in a sense, given birth to the Village Players of Hatboro’s latest production, a farce, “The Fox on the Fairway.”

While Ken Ludwig’s 2-year-old play is about golf, you don’t need to be Jack Nicklaus to enjoy it.

“You definitely don’t have to be a golf fan to appreciate the show,” Balcerek said of the production, which gets underway on Friday. “There’s almost no golf actually taking place in the show.”

What is taking place are a whole lot of laughs. So many in fact that actress Gina Lutz is amazed that she and the five other cast members are able to deliver the chuckle-inducing lines without literally laughing out loud. 

“As a female acting in comedy you kind of fee like Lucille Ball,” said Lutz, of Warrington, who began her acting stint a year ago with Village Players. “She always put herself out there and wasn’t afraid to make a fool of herself.”

“The Fox on the Fairway” kicks off the Hatboro-based nonprofit community theater’s 65th season.

And what better way to continue that tradition than to share a few guffaws with a group that Lutz likens to family.

“The cast has been really great together,” said Lutz, who has also been working to build the show’s set and various props, including a fake oyster. “The set becomes your living room and the other characters are like your brothers and sisters.”

Perhaps that closeness is what makes this show “one of the smoothest productions” for Balcerek, who’s been doing theater for most of his life.

Balcerek said he’s eager to have the show’s performers wow audiences in a way that “Caddyshack” or “Fawlty Towers” may not have been able to do.

“It’s a much different experience than just going to see a movie,” Balcerek said. “(It’s) more like participating. The actors are feeding off the audience.”

If you go

“The Fox on the Fairway” begins Oct. 5 and continues through Oct. 20 at The Village Players of Hatboro, 401 Jefferson Ave. Click here for a show synopsis, show times and pricing information in Patch’s events calendar.