'DeeConstruction' a woman's comic take on renovation

Dee Ryan

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LOWELL -- A kitchen redo or bathroom remodeling is no laughing matter -- unless you're someone like Dee Ryan, who can poke fun at herself and make others laugh.

That's the Tewksbury native's goal in DeeConstruction, a one-woman comedy she'll show off in a staged reading at 7 p.m. Monday, March 26, at Merrimack Repertory Theatre.

"I got addicted to home repair -- electrical rewired, plumbing re-pipes, French-door upgrades and landscaping makeovers -- when we were living in L.A. and I started writing these short pieces about it as part of my comic ladies support group," Ryan said recently by phone.

Over several years and varying stages, it has evolved into the show she brings to Lowell.

"It's been done in a bunch of theaters in L.A. and also at a theater in Reston, Va., and the Pittsburgh Public Theater," she said. "It's been about eight years and the thing about the piece is that it's very personal and a lot of people will recognize themselves in it."

It chronicles her odyssey across the turbulent waters of tyrannical contractors, siren architects, monster neighbors and clueless husbands.

Bringing it to Lowell came about after her husband, Austin Tichenor -- co-creator, director and performer of the Reduced Shakespeare Company -- brought it to the attention of MRT artistic director Charles Towers when RSC was in Lowell this season for its Christmas show.

"Charles loved it, but said he already was planning a one-person show, so

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'DeeConstruction' a woman's comic take on renovation