Phillip J. Shortell, Jonathan Dunski, and James Cady

Simon's humor and values are anchored deep into the psyche of the World War II generation. His vast popularity in the '60s, '70s, and '80s depended on his connection to his generational peers. When I watch a Neil Simon play, I always feel like I'm looking over the shoulders of my parents—his intended audience. Simon is so square, he's pre-Elvis. Yet he went to the heart and soul of his audience. To find an equivalent you'd have to go outside drama to an icon such as Frank Sinatra.

One of his skills is that his works go down easy. There is always a dinner-theater lightness to Simon even when his characters go dark. They never go completely dark. When they're lost and in trouble, they're always just a couple steps from redemption. The Sunshine Boys deals with the dark night of the soul for Willie Clark (James Cady). He has lost his comedy partner of four decades to retirement, and 11 years later, he's still eaten up about it.

Willie is consumed with resentment. He has withdrawn to a tiny New York apartment where his only human contact is his nephew and agent Ben Silverman (Jonathan Dunski) who stops in once a week with food and the weekly showbiz trade pub, Variety. Willie is mostly interested in the obits of old friends in the publication. Ben is barely Willie's agent. Work is slim for the cantankerous old man. All that's left is a smattering of commercials where he burns his bridges by blowing his lines.

Everything changes when "The Ed Sullivan Show" decides to do a review of American comedy and wants to include The Sunshine Boys, which includes Willie and his former partner Al Lewis (Phillip J. Shortell). Willie reluctantly agrees to meet up with Al. The money's good, and after all, Willie never wanted to retire the partnership.

Everything goes wrong, of course, in a string of errors, omissions, and hurt feelings that accompany the rehearsals and the performance in the TV studio. Willie suffers a heart attack, and that's that for the reunion. Next scene is Willie at home recovering. While it's clear to the audience, it's lost on Willie and Al that these two old men who have little left in life need each other and love each other. Yet this play is not like Simon's The Odd Couple, where the two clashing men share the story equally. The Sunshine Boys is really about Willie.

He's at the end of his line, but still alive. His curmudgeon ways have left him isolated and bitter. All his lifelines are gone except for one last rope to Al, and Willie stubbornly refuses to grab it—for much of the play anyway. Simon takes us right up the edge of disliking Willie, but draws us back with humor. Willie's funny all through the story.

Cady's performance as Willie is a tour de force. Cady not only embodies Willie's voice, he embodies Willie's skin, bones, and heart. This is one of those performances where the actor is willing to look unattractive in order to reach the character's essence. Cady even transforms his face to capture Willie's bitterness and despair.

Shortell is wonderful as Al—Shortell is always wonderful—but the real action here is with Willie and his difficulties. Dunski is terrific as nephew Ben, and all of the second-act characters in the "Ed Sullivan Show" studio deliver well. Lorrie Layle Oliver directs well, keeping Willie in our face throughout. The set is trim and effectual by Linda Wilson. The production team and fellow actors are smart enough to get behind Cady and support his raging beauty. The Sunshine Boys is essentially a one-person drama and Cady delivers an amazing performance.

The Sunshine Boys by Neil Simon, directed by Lorri Layle Oliver, at the Adobe Theater, 9813 Fourth St. NW, through July 17, 2015. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm, with a special "Pay What You Will" performance (to benefit the cast and crew) on Thursday July 2 at 7:30 pm. There will not be a performance on July 4. Instead, there were will be an additional performance on Thursday July 9 at 7:30. General admission is $17. Seniors, students, and ATG members are $15. For reservations, call 505-898-9222 or go to the Adobe Theater website at adobetheater.org.

Photo: George A. Williams

--Rob Spiegel