Dana Eskelson and Julia Atwood Photo by Chuck Jennes

The gorgeous set (by Marcelo Martinez Garcia) is of a deluxe hotel room at the vacation resort. At first glance, as the title suggests, it is a kind of paradise, but that quickly changes as the outside world starts to close in. Director James Dean Palmer has done a good job of keeping the play flowing, though some of the scenes are perfunctory and not all of them are completely satisfying. Still, with some work, the play could be better, and the production at Thrown Stone Theatre Company certainly contains a lot that is laudatory.

As Fools' Paradise starts, Wendy (well played by Julia Atwood) has surprised her husband Marc (the equally good Allan Hayhurst) with a luxury vacation and, without revealing too much, it becomes apparent that Wendy has planned this trip to help their marriage. Their friends, Lorraine and Bill (the fine Dana Eskelson and Steven Hauck, respectively), are right across the hall at the resort and it seems like the four characters are in for a wonderful time. The situation changes drastically, though, and a foreboding sense of doom grows more and more palpable as the show proceeds.

Winn has fashioned his play with a series of extremely brief scenes, some of which hit home and others that miss the mark. It can be argued that it would be beneficial to lengthen the individual scenes, which would give Fools' Paradise more cohesiveness. Also, the play becomes somewhat confusing as to exactly how much time has lapsed between the opening moments of the show and the much too abrupt conclusion. These flaws ultimately affect the believability of the situations in the show and how much one comes to care for the characters.

That said, the playwright has a canny ear for dialogue and, as the play progresses, there are moments that might take your breath away. He shows how these people react as everything gets more and more dire, and an audience member can wonder exactly how they would react if they were faced with same end-of-the-world situation.

Costumes by Brenda Phelps are beautifully designed and they help to mold each of the characters. The actors also bring quite a bit to all of their parts. Julia Atwood's Wendy is enormously sympathetic and her scenes of trying to reconcile with her husband Marc feel true to life. As Marc, Allan Hayhurst travels quite an arc emotionally throughout the show and makes this transition completely plausible. As skillfully portrayed by Dana Eskelson and Steven Hauck, respectively, the characters Lorraine and Bill are, from the start, more freewheeling than Wendy and Marc, which makes some moments all the more sobering when the characters begin to panic and realize just how vulnerable they are.

If not everything shines in Fools' Paradise, there is enough in the play to give one hope that this work will have a life beyond its run at Thrown Stone Theatre Company. In addition to doing a good job with his actors, the director scores with the design team, including the effective lighting (courtesy of Abby May) and the mood-enhancing score by Aidan Meachem. Fools' Paradise contains moments of shock and levity, as well as scenes of genuine joy and wonder. This is a sensitive and carefully crafted show and, even though the play feels unfinished and not fully realized, there are enough good things to make this production worth a visit.

Fools' Paradise runs through May 11, 2025, at Crystal Theatre, 66 Bayview Ave, Norwalk CT. For tickets and information, please visit thrownstone.org.