Danny Mittermeyer and Karle LeQuin are part of
The Barefoot Players theater group.
Photo by Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin

Most cliches stay cliche-able because there's a nugget of truth inside. Fact is, getting the kids to put on a show usually requires only kids - or actors - a stage for them to strut their stuff and a place for audience members to park their okoles.

The inspiration that strikes actors to strike off on their own and organize a theater isn't rare; sometimes it works, as it did for ASATAD, and sometimes it doesn't; The Mallory Players (who?), for example. The latest are The Barefoot Players, who are debuting Neil Simon's classic "Barefoot in the Park" at the Honolulu Academy of Arts Theatre.

You read right - the Academy Theatre. It turns out there's a real set of boards behind the movie screen. According to Academy Theatre manager Steve Mobley, this will be the first time a play is presented there.

"Barefoot in the Park" is the seminal Simon piece about a young married couple who move into a sixth-floor walk-up, and the problems that follow. The movie starred Jane Fonda and Robert Redford when they were beginners, so it's not exactly new.

The Barefooters first bumped toes backstage at Hawaii Pacific University's "Our Town" a few months ago. "We found we liked working together, and decided to get together to do something familiar," said Scott Kim, who's directing and bit-acting "Barefoot in the Park."

Meredith Watt Jr. who plays the ingenue lead, said she's a seventh-generation performer - her Irish ancestors played the 1904 World's Fair. "The kids in Barefoot are all do-everything kinds of theater people," Watt said. "They can do the backstage work, and on stage they're 'thinking' actors with a lot of flexibility."

The other players are Al Lynde, Danny Mittermeyer and Karla LeQuin. "We started out because Danny wanted to do some theater this summer, so we created a full-on incorporation and organized a business plan," said LeQuin.

"The idea was to do light theater at a price that was affordable for patrons. We looked at various theaters around town and all were out of our price range, and on a lark called the Academy," Kim said. It turned out that the stage there was workable, if intimate, and required only a proscenium set to mask the exits.

They want to concentrate on "name-recognition" plays, familiar to most potential theater-goers, a winter and a summer production. Beyond that, "we'll see how it goes with critical and customer response," Kim said.

"We see a niche in modern classics that the whole family can see," said Watt. "We're not an off-the-wall group doing weird drama. I like comedy that someone my own age can relate to."

The phrase "rat fink" in Simon's play made Watt laugh out loud, but some of the younger members of the cast had never heard it before.

"We'll keep things enjoyable and light and familiar, the sort of thing a dinner crowd could come in and enjoy and not get hit over the head," LeQuin said.

"It remains to be seen how we find our legs," said Kim, which sounds like an appropriate comment for a Barefoot Player.

What: "Barefoot in the Park"
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday; 2 and 8 p.m. Sunday
Where: Honolulu Academy of Arts Theatre
Cost: $8; $6 for seniors, students and military
Call: 532-8700