“The Swingset” Delivers Big Laughs and Local Color

Marco Island’s Arts Center Theater kicked off its 2024-2025 season on September 6 with the raucous adult comedy “The Swingset,” written and directed by seasonal resident Kristyn Estes, who also starred in the play alongside Detroit native Fred Buchalter. 

The play, set in an unnamed island retirement community, but bearing a striking resemblance to Marco Island in its descriptions and contexts, chronicles a couple’s adventures and misadventures as they inadvertently stumble into the world of “swingers” in their island community. 

Abby, played by Estes, is a recently retired public relations executive looking to expand her horizons and meet new friends in her new community. Her husband Jake, a retired insurance salesman played by Buchalter, is a bit of a homebody, content to work on the book he’s aspiring to write while hoping to avoid meeting new people. Those divergent views of their retirement explode into hilarious conflict when friends send a decorative pineapple as a housewarming gift and the couple promptly displays it in their front window, inviting a cascade of misunderstandings that Estes’ script and the actors’ performances deftly exploit for comedy gold. 

Estes’ and Buchalter’s onstage chemistry isengaging and infectious and a perfect fit for this farcical romp through retirement living, island style. 

The set was designed by Estes and constructed by Tommaso Billitteri, with Ron Clark as sound engineer. The two-hour production (with intermission) artfully took full advantage of the theater’s intimate setting, putting the audience inside a realistic depiction of a typical island home familiar to anyone living on Marco. 

Produced by Marco Island Center for the Arts for its annual Arts Center Theater series, “The Swingset” was an unbridled hit with the audience at the show, earning boisterous laughs throughout and a rousing standing ovation at its conclusion. 

"The beauty of this comedy is that the 'naughty little secret' in The Swingset can probably be found in communities all across the country. And who doesn't appreciate a light-hearted comedy?” said Estes. “I've always been inspired by Neil Simon. He creates moments of genuine laughter for the audience and that is something I also strive to do. I will say that some audience members waiting in line to greet us after The Swingset were still laughing as they told us they will never look at pineapples the same way again. Probably should've put that line in the show. Maybe I will!" 

Estes has previously said she intends to publish “The Swingset” and take it to other venues in Southwest Florida and beyond. If its rollicking run at the Arts Center Theater is any indication, that plan looks like a pretty good bet.