“The Odd Couple” with a twist

January 19-27-What happens when you take two oppositesnone a compulsive neat freak, the other an absolute slobnand make them roommates?

The Thibodaux Playhouse’s production of Neil Simon’s “The Odd CouplenThe Female Version,” which opens Jan. 19 at the Jean Lafitte National Historic Cultural Center, answers that question.

Simon’s original story centered on a recently separated obsessive man moving in with a friend, who happens to be a slob. The personality differences make for humor no matter which adaptation is performed.

Gone are Oscar and Felix; present are Olive Madison and Florence Unger. Friendship, minus the testosterone, is still the focus of the script. Instead of card games, the girls get edgy during an evening of Trivial Pursuit.

Directed by Janis Lasseigne, the show stars Jeannie Fritsche as Olive, Toni Guidry as Florence, Hugh Caffery and Randy Mayeaux as the upstairs neighbors, and Aiee Bourgeois, Susan Davenport, Mary Ann Matherne and Teresa Perry as the Trivial Pursuit gang.

Fritchse is a familiar face to Thibodaux Playhouse; Guidry, on the other hand, is making her stage debut with the group. The Nicholls State senior has appeared in several productions at the university.

“This is light entertainment, Neil Simon at his best,” Lasseigne said of the play. “There’s nothing real brainy about it. Audiences will enjoy the characterization of the female version I believe, especially the relationship between the girls and, of course, the guys from upstairs. They could pass for brothers.”

Performances are set for Jan. 19, 20, 25, 26 and 27 at 7:30 p.m., and a Jan. 28 matinee at 2 p.m. Tickets are available through the Thibodaux Playhouse at (985) 446-1896.

Pictured are Hugh Caffery, Toni Guidry and Randy Mayeax, three of the actors featured in the Thibodaux Playhouse’s upcoming production of “The Odd Couple n Female Version.” The play opens Jan. 19 at the Jean Lafitte National Historic Cultural Center, 315 St. Mary St., in Thibodaux. Written by Neil Simon, the production focuses on two women: Florence Unger and Olive Madison. Tickets are on sale now at the Thibodaux Playhouse and are available via phone at (985) 446-1896.