Clara, a beautiful socialite who feels her youth slipping away Max, a wealthy playboy and Clara’s lover and Alma, Max’s aloof and mysterious half-sister, to whom Henry is irresistibly drawn. But before they leave, they meet a glamorous set of people who sweep them up into their drama. Feeling shy of each other and isolated, they decide to cut the trip short. Henry and Effie, very young newlyweds from Georgia, arrive in Cape May, New Jersey, for their honeymoon only to find the town is deserted. Cape May does something better than critique or satirize: It seduces.'Ī mesmerizing debut novel by Chip Cheek, Cape May explores the social and sexual mores of 1950s America through the eyes of a newly married couple from the genteel south corrupted by sophisticated New England urbanites. A dozy, luxurious sense of enchantment comes over the story, until the rude awakening at its finale. 'Henry and Effie’s honeymoon is meant to be their introduction to the pleasures of the body, but in the company of Clara and her promiscuous cohort they lose all track of boundaries. Cheek’s sensual first novel leaves you wanting more.” Then they meet Clara and Max, hard-partying lovers who dazzle the innocent pair until they’ve lost more than their virginity.

The Cotuit Center for the Arts is offering a walk in the park with Neil Simon's comedy of newlywed life in “Barefoot in the Park,” which runs through April 30.“Inside this mesmerizing tale of sexual desire and discovery, naive newlyweds Henry and Effie are honeymooning in Cape May, N.J., in 1957, tentatively navigating intimacy. Two productions of the same show in one season offers an unusual chance for a side-by-side comparison.

Then Eventide Theatre Company will offer up its version, running May 4-21. The Academy of Performing Arts in Orleans is performing “Company,” Sondheim’s and George Furth’s musical look at the life and loves of a perennially single man, through April 23. Anyone holding tickets for April 28 or April 29 may email or leave a message at the box office, 50, for an alternate date or a refund.In the next month, Cape Cod theaters will stage two versions of Stephen Sondheim’s classic “Company,” a nostalgia-laden “Gypsy' and a world premiere of the new Cape-written musical 'Archibald Avery.' You can also try your luck at solving a murder mystery. Editor's note: The Falmouth Theatre Guild is delaying the opening of 'Something Rotten' from Friday, April 28, to Sunday, April 30.

Cape May by Chip Cheek