The title of the play comes from a popular song that Americans sing around Thanksgiving and Christmas. The first verse is, “Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go. The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh through the white and drifted snow.” This song brings back memories of family get-togethers during happy times, and the love of family is the theme that runs throughout this warm-hearted comedy. The play takes place in a house in Hoboken, New Jersey, and concerns itself with the lives of an Italian-American family. Nick Cristano is a young marketing executive who routinely visits his four grandparents every Sunday for dinners which are governed by the three “F’s” – family, faith and food. One Sunday he has an exciting, though devastating announcement for his grandparents: He is being promoted to a new position in far away Seattle. Since Nick is their only relative left in the area, the thought of losing him calls for drastic action on the part of the grandparents. The solution? Introduce him to the woman of his dreams. So, one day, Caitlin O’Hare comes to dinner. Nick likes her and starts thinking that staying in New Jersey might not be such a bad idea. But his future and dreams are in Seattle. As his decision gets closer, Nick faces the tough question, “How much do you owe the people who care for you? How much is enough?” In the process of making his decision he learns not only how much he is loved by his grandparents, but also how much they mean to him. Speaking about the characters in OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS, Mr. DiPietro says, “The biggest difference between these generations is their concept of family and home. Our grandparents believed that the family was central, and work is something you do just to provide for them. For our generation, it’s a lot more complicated.”
