by Rita Charleston

“Living Together,” the second play in Alan Ayckbourn's “Norman Conquest Trilogy,” continues on weekends at Allens Lane Art Center, 601 W. Allens Lane in Mt. Airy, through Dec. 6.

The play, directed by Noelle Nettl, revolves around Norman, the lusty assistant librarian whose only goal in life seems to be making his sisters-in-law happy. When plans for a “dirty little weekend” with one sister-in-law are derailed and his wife arrives on the scene, Norman sets his sites on his other sister-in-law.

As in “Table Manners,” the first play in the trilogy that Allens Lane produced last year, “Living Together,” is comprised of the same six characters — a brother, two sisters, two spouses and Tom, the vet and neighbor — as played by the same six actors.

Don Gimpel appears once again as Tom, a man Gimpel describes as a “nice guy who is a little socially awkward. With his eye on Annie, one of the sisters, he's not quite sure how to properly court her and seal the deal.”

Because of his awkwardness, Tom is often the butt of jokes. “So one of the biggest challenges I face is making him multi-dimensional. But he's a smart guy and actually stands up for himself at one point. I'm able to identify with him in some ways, and I think that's important. At the beginning of the rehearsal process, we talked about what we liked about our character, and I like Tom a lot. He's very easy to like.”

Gimpel, who lives in Norristown, is an attorney with a small general practice in Phoenixville. He graduated from LaSalle and studied law at Villanova. He said he got into acting as a way to advance his legal abilities. “I looked at acting as a way to hone my legal and presentation skills, so I decided to take an acting class at Montgomery County Community College. One of my instructors pushed me to try out for a production of 'Guys and Dolls.' I did, got a part, and it all took off from there.”

Since that time he's appeared in productions at several theaters including Footlighters Theater, Players Club of Swarthmore and others. He's now been acting for about 14 years. “I do find acting is very helpful with my law career. In fact, I think each one helps the other. I do think my acting skills have helped me fine-tune my law skills. And the amount of pressure one feels in court helps with my acting, although by the end of the day I will admit acting is a lot of fun.”

So much fun, Gimpel admits, “that if something came along that allowed me to act full-time I'd jump at the chance. Since I've gotten into acting and met other actors, I'm really into it. I'm interacting with people who are more outgoing than I am. So being an actor someday full-time would be absolutely amazing.”

Tickets are $20 with reservations and $25 at the door. For information, call 215-248-0546.