Same Time, Next Year by Bernard Slade is supposed to be a romantic comedy. The Compass Rose Theater production that opened on October 18 is more of a melodrama with several funny lines. Though its dialogue and gender roles are now dated, the play was received by critics in 1975 as one of the “funniest shows about love and adultery to ever hit Broadway.” The plot revolves around a man and woman, George and Doris, who, despite being married to other people, meet once a year for a secret rendezvous over 24 years. Doris tells her spouse she is at a religious retreat with the nuns. George tells his spouse he is on a business trip. Omar A. Said as George and Ann Marie Taglavore as Doris in ‘Same Time, Next Year.’ Photo by Joshua Hubbell. The characters feel trapped in their marriages, especially in the early years, and either character is the hero or the villain at times. In a scene set in 1965, George (Omar A. Said) is Mr. Establishment. Doris (Ann Marie Taglavore), who dropped out of high school after getting pregnant, earned a diploma on bed rest during another pregnancy and is now a 30-ish learner at UC Berkeley. Much of her learning comes at anti-war protests. Doris, full of liberal righteousness, calls George a fascist because he voted for Goldwater, who said he would drop a nuclear bomb on Vietnam. She doesn’t understand how anyone could do something so inhuman. When George blurts out that his son Michael was shot and killed in Vietnam loading a wounded soldier onto a medical evacuation helicopter, she seems to have a change of heart and is at his side commiserating. They get to know each other’s families through photos and stories during their annual flings. Michael seems to have been George’s favorite son. Over the years these cheating spouses feel like they knew the other’s spouse and their siblings were old friends. By 1970 the couple’s roles are reversed. Doris is now Ms. Establishment with a successful business and about to give birth to another. It has come at a cost, though. Her husband is absent for four days. Doris has no idea where he is and ponders if she wants him back. George, after much analysis, is now on a truth kick and wants Doris to confront how she feels about her marriage. He will later regret it. Said changes George from a guilty, unconfident, lacking-self-esteem jerk in 1951 into a self-aware, psych-babbling world fixer who by 1975 has abandoned corporate America. Of course, his career in accounting and money management gave him and his family a soft landing when he decided to play piano in a cocktail lounge. Physically, the actor sports patches of gray in his hair and a mustache as he ages. Taglavore is a Maryland-bred, NYC-based actor who “loves bringing a character from the script to life as well as collaborating with fellow artists to share stories that move,” according to her bio. She certainly does that from the time George picks Doris up with a steak until she denies him three times. Omar A. Said as George and Ann Marie Taglavore as Doris in ‘Same Time, Next Year.’ Photo by Joshua Hubbell. George and Doris develop a level of comfort with each other that helps each navigate his or her personal journey. The actors develop and maintain the closeness of the relationship, responding to every nuance of changing moods. The darker, largely unexplored side of the story is George’s and Doris’ deceived spouses and children at home. Costume designer Susan Flynn dressed the actors well. The suits, dresses, and Taglavore’s hippie outfit were all on target. The shoes were not. George had a couple of pairs throughout the play. Doris wore the same pair in the final scene as she wore in the first scene. Shoes do not last 25 years. Director Gary Goodson did a nice job of keeping a fast pace on his set and merging comedy and drama. One example is an impotent George getting excited rubbing eight-months-pregnant Doris’ feet as she breaks her water. Dialogue is not forced throughout the performance; delivery is as genuine as it comes. Said and Goodson doubled as set designers. The wicker loveseat and footrest, pictures on the walls, and double bed were fine for 1951, but the set stayed the same for 24 years. I could imagine the motel as a shabby place for a one-night stand in 1951, but why return? Stage manager Ryan Squires and unnamed stagehands keep Same Time, Next Year moving at a swift pace during six scenes in two acts, allowing the audience to always remain invested. Running Time: One hour and 35 minutes with a 15-minute intermission. Same Time, Next Year plays through November 17, 2024 (Friday at 8 pm, Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm), presented by Compass Rose Theater performing at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts (third floor), 801 Chase Street, Annapolis, MD. Tickets ($15–$55 plus fees) can be purchased online or by calling the box office at 410-980-6662.