Husband and wife team up for Neil Simon’s ‘Plaza Suite’

Rob and Jennifer Johansen should have no trouble playing the married couples within Neil Simon’s “Plaza Suite,” which opens this weekend at the Brown County Playhouse. After all, off the stage they have been married for two years.\nBoth are working actors and have appeared in many productions in Indianapolis and throughout the Midwest. They are members of the ShadowApe Theatre Company and have performed at the Indiana Repertory Theatre together. Their close relationship, on stage and off, makes for a unique living situation. \n“I’m reminded of an old acting couple that were in a show together,” Rob said. “They both had great careers but they had a rule. The rule was that when they got in a show together, they designated parts of their house that were off limits to the other person. We definitely haven’t done that.”\nWhen Rob is in a show with his wife, he said he doesn’t really call it work because he gets to spend more time with his best friend. Jennifer responded in a similar fashion.\n“We find that we really, really miss each other when one of us is called out of town for work – it’s really hard,” Jennifer said. “And I think we prefer being in each other’s faces a little more and fighting through that. And I think we learn a tremendous amount about our relationship.”\n“Plaza Suite” is set in the ’60s and takes place inside a hotel suite. Each of the three acts is independent of the other with Rob and Jennifer playing three different couples in three different situations. Each act features its own director. \nIn Act I, the audience is introduced to a couple that has been married for 23 years and is now going through a problematic time. \n“There are really sad moments in the act I think, because you’re seeing a relationship crumbling in some ways. When we were \nworking on this at home, we’d look at each other and go ‘We’re not going to be like this, we’re not going to be like this,’” Rob said. “You have to take care of your relationship every day, or you blink and all the sudden you could be living with a stranger.”\nAct II features a reunion of sorts, as it deals with an old high school romance. A man and woman who dated in high school but have not seen each other in 17 years meet in the hotel room. \nAct III deals with a “family crisis” and revolves around one final couple, Rob said. \nJennifer said that working with three different directors in one play was an adjustment at first, but after doing so, she found the energy of the rehearsal process to be refreshing.\n“The only thing that’s tying them (the acts) together is that they’re in the same room and that the same two actors are playing the lead couples,” Jennifer said. “But, I think in that respect, it really gives a fresh take, a fresh flavor, and the personalities of the directors are able to come through in each act.”\nPlaza Suite opens 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, and runs every weekend through Oct. 20 at the Brown County Playhouse in Nashville, Ind. Tickets are available in person at the Brown County Playhouse box office, at the IU Auditorium box office, by phone at 333-9955, at Ticketmaster outlets or online.