Relationships are front and center in two very different shows now running on North Bay stages through August 19.

Robert Bauer

The Cloverdale Performing Arts Center is presenting Heroes, playwright Tom Stoppard’s translation and adaptation of a 2003 French play about three World War I vets in a retirement home.

Gustave (Robert Bauer), Henri (Peter Immordino), and Philippe (Dale Harriman) pass their days sitting on a terrace, annoying each other, and plotting their escape from the veterans’ home. Convinced that the tyrannical nun in charge has it out for Philippe, their latest plan starts out with the goal of running to French Indo-China but ends on settling for a poplar grove within view of their terrace. Now if they can just figure a way to take a 200 lb. statue of a dog with them.

An odd combination of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Waiting for Godot, and The Golden Girls (with Gustave as Dorothy, Henri as Blanche, and Philippe as Rose), Heroes is a slight piece with some amusing dialogue and geriatric slapstick.

Rating (out of 5): ★★★

‘Heroes’ runs Friday–Sunday through August 19 at the Cloverdale Performing Arts Center, 209 N. Cloverdale Blvd., Cloverdale. Friday–Saturday, 7:30pm; Sunday, 2pm. $12–$25. 707.894.2214. cloverdaleperformingarts.com

Photos by John Gobeille

As originally published in the North Bay Bohemian and Pacific Sun.