What can we expect if we live to the age of 78? As we reflect upon our lives as a parent, a spouse, and a friend, what lies ahead? How do we deal with or merely accept our past? In “The Unexpected 3rd,” Kathryn Grody explores this and so much more in a sincere, yet funny look at her life in this one-woman play that she wrote and is making its world premiere at People’s Light. It is not merely a good play beautifully performed- it is the best one-person show I’ve seen in years!
Kathryn complains about so many things in her life, but she is not whining. She is speaking to us, to me, about the things that have gone wrong and right. I identified with every one of her struggles, from doing everything to stay young, to chronicling her aging. There are papers all over the stage from previous attempts of writing her memoir and more pages appear throughout her the play as she examines her past and tries to figure out what is next. She asks, “Why can’t we embrace this aging process” and then quotes Philip Roth- “Aging isn’t a war, it’s a massacre.” On the painted backdrop is a Dali-like representation of the dripping clock while she reminds us that the biggest obstacle is time.
What can she do to be remembered in a positive way by her family and by the world in general? Is there something she can still do to avoid feeling obsolete, invisible? How can she deal with her sons who are so critical? After all, she was the same arrogant way toward her parents when she was younger. How to connect better with her grandchildren? How does she stop talking all the time? How does she manage in the digital world? How will she handle the covid crisis where she is losing one of the things she loves most, touching and hugging?
Will she ever stop trying to figure out her life? She tells us she has thought about and written this piece over 50 times. She thinks she finds solutions along her life’s journey but then questions those solutions.
So many questions. So much anxiety. So much fear. Yet this is not a sad story. It is very funny as she searches for the things that will lead to happiness and just staying alive. I want to be her friend- to listen and talk with her about all the issues we face.
I enjoyed every moment as I listened to and watched Grody. She is my age. She deals with all the problems I have been facing and with all my own questions about life. When the show ended, I asked a few younger members in the audience if they enjoyed the show. Each told me that they loved it. The friend I went with wants me to try to get a copy of the script so she can relive this finely written piece and so she can recall many of the smart but simple words again and again. The run is being extended because so many people want to see this unusual, thought-provoking piece of theater that is sure to travel to cities around the country. It is not to be missed.
“The Unexpected 3rd”” by Kathryn Grody at People’s Light, 39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern, PA 19355, 610-644-3500, peopleslight.org Extended thru October 26, 2025
Philadelphia Theater Reviews by Frank Burd 