Shore's gals of summer

That turned out to be a lovely young actress named Megan McDermott, and when I saw the show Friday night, she was in her third performance and shining - so much so, she made the show work. (She has the most to do in it, truth to tell.) So I crown her this summer's trouper.

But wait, there's more. During Friday's show, the black-scrim backdrop that separates a working church altar from the playing stage fell, as in slow motion, over John Cameron Weber as he entered stage rear, about to speak. No one and nothing was hurt except for the show's natural progression. The other two performers in this cabaretlike prose production are Drew Seltzer as an agreeable young man and Suzanne Dawson as a worldly woman.

Parker's work, at least what's in this show, is never strikingly witty, and two major scenes of storytelling feature a woman who appears to misread or purposely misinterpret the simple intentions of her man. A surprising undercurrent of sexism ran through the show, especially for a writer ahead of her time. For these current times, it's clear that the East Lynne company needs a real theater for its work.

On Stages at the Shore

Steel Magnolias is playing through Sept. 10 at Cape May Stage, 31 Perry St., Cape May. Tickets: $35.

Information: 609-884-1341 or www.capemaystage.com.

The World of Dorothy Parker is an East Lynne Theater Company production, through Sept. 3, at First Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes St., Cape May. Tickets: $30. Information: 609-884-5898 or www.eastlynnetheater.org.

The Odd Couple, a female version, is playing through Sunday at Surflight Theatre, 201 Engleside Ave., Beach Haven, N.J. Tickets: $36-$54. Information: 609-492-9477 or www.surflight.org.

Contact staff writer Howard Shapiro at 215-854-5727 or hshapiro@phillynews.com.