'Riches' explores what happens when a couple has it all -- almost

But perhaps more telling for most is the husband's response: "That's exactly why people stay in marriages. They spend 25 years looking for the person they have the least problem with, and then they marry them."

It's David and Carolyn Rich's 21st wedding anniversary, and they've returned to the cozy hotel where they blissfully spent their honeymoon. The Riches appear to be the perfect couple: good home, expensive cars, impressive income, child in the right college.

They have it all.

OK, they have it all except for their own separate identities, says Julie Tattershall, Heller Theater's artistic director.

"I think a lot of us have a fear of really being who we are, you know, really stepping out there and having our own identity," she said. "What this couple did was lean on each other so much that they no longer have anything outside of themselves. They're the Riches; that's who they are. They fit in."

At least until this anniversary, when the couple's deeply buried niggling faults and years of petty transgressions are allowed to break through the seeming calm of their relationship.

It's an experience that the director, happily married for two years, can relate to from a past relationship.

"I was married a long time ago, and a lot of these issues were happening. I wasn't allowed my identity, and I didn't want to be who he wanted me to be," she said. "Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad relationships out there."

But there's plenty of comedy in the play as well, promises Tattershall, who has produced multiple works by playwright Blessing over the years ("Fortinbras," "Down the Road"). This time around, local theater veterans Claudia Teipel and Tim Neller star.

"It's another one of those works in which Blessing doesn't make our minds up for us," she said. "I love how he says, 'This really is a problem. Don't you think we ought to look into it?' "

The reaction to the show prior to production, at least among those in Tattershall's circle who have read the play, seems to confirm the ambiguity the director spotted.

"I had a friend who read this and just hated it," she said. "The reaction was pretty severe, and they said, 'That's my life. I'm not touching it.'

"I've gotten people who are pretty angry about the play, and I've gotten people who are pretty passionate about the play. So I guess you're either going to walk out of it having hated it or you're going to walk out saying, 'Wow, let's not ever let that happen to us.'

"I think it will certainly give couples a lot to talk about, because these people are not evil. They're two loving people trying to have the right life, and the right life doesn't always fit in a box."

Michael Smith, World entertainment writer, can be reached at 581-8344 or via e-mail at michael.smith@tulsaworld.com.

Theater

When: 8 p.m. March 6-8, 2 p.m. March 9
Where: Heller Theater, 5328 S. Wheeling Ave.
Tickets: $5-$7, general admission reservations may be made by calling 746-5065
Note: This play contains adult language and situations and is intended for mature audiences.