**** As we get older, and see many of our old friends pass away or perhaps enter nursing homes and slowly disappear, we begin to look at our lives and the friends that are still with us in a different way. In “Wipeout” now in its World Premiere at Chicago’s Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, we meet three high school buddies,  Claudia (Celeste Williams), Wynn ( Meg Thalken) and Gary ( Cindy Gold), all around 70’ish who have decided to get out and take a surfing lesson.

During this fast paced 90 minutes of theater, written by Aurora Real de Asua and sharply directed by Tara Mallen, we learn a great deal about each of these ladies and their relationship, both in the past and now. Their instructor, Blaze ( Glenn Obrero) works to ease their fear, but we learn that he did not want this assignment, knowing that three seniors would not e his kind of class.

We do see that each of these ladies has something in their life that needs to be set asisde and this special day, is meant to create what they are seeking. While they are out of what is supposed ot be the Pacific Ocean on surfboard, we see them on an intimate stage on Ridge Avenue in Chicago, but thanks to the creativity of  the design team ( Caitlyn Girten) along with the projection designer ((Andres Fiz) and Mallen’s direction, along with the movement choreography by Devon de Mayo, we can almost feel the ladies on their surfboards ( made of ironing boards) floating on the ocean, feeling each wave.

These ladies are not just experiencing the navigation of the waves and current, but in fact, they are learning to navigate their friendships, their fears and where they are in their lives. While the subject matter is indeed about surfing and their being able to overcome their fear of same, the truth is the basic story is about their lives, past and present, and even a little into the future. Are they happy? Are they content? Did they accomplish what they had hoped to? All of htis comes out and I must say that these three ladies are terrific.

Celeste Willimas’ character is probably the sanest and even the happiest. Wynn ( Thalken) has had a busy life with lots of husbands ( all gone) and Gary (Gold) is at a point where she is going into assisted living and this might be her last adventure. On the intimate stage at Rivendell, there is no hiding anything, so watching these ladies in their almost wet suits ( costumes by Evelyn Danner) we feel that they do catch a wave and reach the goal that they set out to attain this day.

“Wipeout” will continue thru – April 6th with performances as follows: