‘We all are kind of nuts’

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“The skies we lit up, looked all bit up, like Fido chewed them …”

Hmm. With song lyrics like that, Artie Shaughnessy isn’t likely to make it big as a composer.

No, it looks as if he’s doomed to stay in his shabby New York apartment, working at the zoo to earn a living, playing his music at a local lounge, putting up with a wife so crazy everybody calls her “Bananas” and begging his girlfriend, Bunny, to cook for him.

“He feels trapped,” said Dave Giordano, who plays Artie in “The House of Blue Leaves,” which Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre will present May 3 through May 12, with performances at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays in the Little Theatre’s historic playhouse, 537 North Main St., Wilkes-Barre.

It’s October 1965 in this play by John Guare, Pope Paul VI is visiting New York City and plenty of excitement is about to rain down on Artie’s family.

For one thing, Bananas’ and Artie’s son, Ronnie, AWOL from Fort Dix, has come home with a bomb and an intention to wreak havoc.

“Ronnie is 100% unhinged,” said Tate Elliott, who has that role. “He lost his mental stability years ago. He wants fame, and he doesn’t care if it’s good fame or bad fame.”

At some point a military policeman will arrive and scuffle with Ronnie, as will a trio of nuns who are determined to see the pope.

“They climb down the fire escape and come through a window into the apartment,” said Felix Wawer, who plays the Mother Superior.

Bunny, who might be the only character besides Artie who believes in his song-writing ability, hopes a papal blessing will help his work. Meanwhile as Jennifer Frey Abdalla, who plays Bunny, explains, “She’ll sleep with Artie anytime, but she won’t cook for him. She’s holding out on that for after marriage.”

But how can Artie marry Bunny? He’s still married to Bananas.

“I don’t get out of my nightgown much,” Susan Parrick said, speaking as that character. “I love Artie and I love the concept of marriage, but all of a sudden Artie’s hunger for fame has left me in a lonely state.”

The role of Bananas calls for the actor to bark and move like a dog sometimes. “I don’t even think of it when I’m doing it,” she said. “It’s so entrenched in my character. It’s a part of her.”

“Some might say Bananas is schizophrenic,” Parrick said. “I say she’s not as dumb as she seems.”

While there might be disagreement about Bananas’ mental and emotional health, castmates agree the play is funny. And sad.

“Sometimes it’s hysterically funny, sometimes very sad,” said Frey Abdalla. “You don’t know when the ups and downs are going to come.”

“Act I and Act II seem like totally different plays,” Giordano said. “It’s a roller coaster between comedy and drama. I’m singing and dancing one minute, yelling and screaming the next.”

As for playwright Guare, Giordano said, “The man knows how to write.”

And speaking of the characters, Frey Abdalla said, “We all are kind of nuts.”

The play is presented with support from Walter Mitchell and the Mitchell Financial Group. Tickets are $20 at LTWB.org or by calling 570-823-1875.