RIDGEFIELD — Ridgefield Theatre Barn has a very, very funny original play on its stage.

The company has opened the 2022 season with The Divas, a series of short plays by Jack Neary, all of which revolve around the hilarious relationship between two aging local actors who can’t live with or without each other.

Directed by Michael Ferrara and Paulette Layton, the playful piece kept the Sunday afternoon audience laughing all the way.

Clarice (played by Deborah Connelly) and Bethel (Nancy Sinacori) are lifelong friends and nemeses. Both regularly vie for starring roles in the various productions in their community.

They compliment and ridicule each other while also throwing shade when the parts they desire go to a certain third person. On those occasions, which are not infrequent, they team up to disparage the talent and character of Olivia Trent (Catherine Cavender), the fly in the ointment of their ambitions.

The antics of these two are well known in town and even in the afterlife. In each of the shorts they find new and ever more comedic ways to play out their jealousies and machinations.

Clarice and Bethel are simply outrageous and divine in the hands of Connelly and Sinacora. These women were born for the stage and, perhaps particularly, to work together. They riff and spin off each other in a rat-a-tat manner which is so spontaneous it appears completely natural. They are a hoot.

Other members of this terrific cast include Timothy Huber in various roles and Tarah Margaret Vega as the daughter and heir apparent to Ms Trent’s talent.

Playwright Neary has created a series of shorts well suited to reveal the lengths these characters will go to win, until the time comes when winning is no longer the objective. He is to be congratulated.

The set is simple, a few folding chairs and a table here and there. Likewise, the costumes are unfussy yet precise to the characters.

The production choices prove that theater lives in the characters developed by the actors, who are spectacular. Don’t miss The Divas.

Performances continue weekends to February 26. Doors open one hour prior to curtain, and audiences are still welcome to bring food and drink to enjoy within limited cabaret seating.

Visit RidgefieldTheaterBarn.org for full performance details, current COVID-19 precautions, and reservations.