Most of us have had at least one relationship that went south, for one reason or another. What would it be like to meet that person again years later? The Public Theatre gives a mismatched couple a second chance at love in Norm Foster’s “Wrong For Each Other,” directed by Christopher Schario.

Jason Cadieux and Lee Fitzpatrick are Rudy Sorenson and Norah Case, a couple whose marriage fell apart three years and nine months prior. When the two bump into each other at a restaurant, feelings are rekindled as they reminisce about their tumultuous past.

Photo courtesy of The Public Theatre Lee Fitzpatrick and Jason Cadieux as Norah Case and Rudy Sorenson

THEATER REVIEW

WHAT: “Wrong For Each Other” at The Public Theatre

WHERE: 31 Maple St., Lewiston

DATE REVIEWED:  March 17; ends March 26

TICKETS:  $20 adults, $5 youth (18 and under)

CONTACT:  782-3200, thepublictheatre.org

Using flashbacks, Rudy and Norah take the audience on a journey through their lives, revealing how the unlikely couple fell in love and the events that led to their divorce.

It’s an emotional ride as the pair revisits the highs and lows of their relationship, bringing laughs and tears. The audience laughed Friday night when the lights dawned on Rudy and Norah reenacting riding a carnival roller coaster nine years earlier. In a reversal of their personality traits, he was desperately trying not to vomit, while she fearlessly threw her arms up in the air.

The characters are dramatically different. Rudy is accustomed to going after what he wants, doing and saying whatever it takes to get it. He’s a sports-loving building painter with a close-knit family that owns a market vegetable stand.

Norah’s mother left when she was little, leaving her to be raised by her father, who is a member of the symphony. She keeps her cards close to her chest, afraid to want too much. When the couple first met, Norah had just ended her relationship with Norville, an oboe player 16 years older, and was managing the local Civic Center.

Cadieux and Fitzpatrick highlight their characters’ differences, giving Rudy a likable, yet scheming demeanor that contrasts sharply with Norah’s standoffish fragility.

Foster parcels out the humor in “Wrong For Each Other,” sprinkling witty dialogue amongst the rehashed drama of Rudy and Norah’s lives. Cadieux embraces Foster’s wit, charming the audience with one-liners that tickle the funny bone.

To accommodate the play’s many locations, set designer Judy Staicer has crafted a dreamlike set. Her restaurant has a romantic quality with an open-air patio and an ambiguous décor that stirs the imagination, allowing the cast to transport the audience back and forth in time and place.

In keeping with Foster’s artistic style, “Wrong For Each Other” offers a quirky look at life, mixing humor with pathos. The play gets the audience to use its imagination and ultimately draw its own conclusions.