BANGOR – The best-known plays often are the hardest to do – especially if they’ve been preserved on film and turned into a hit television series. Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple” is one of those plays.

The story of two friends recovering from divorce who are forced to live together is familiar to nearly every theatergoer over age 12. First performed in 1965, “The Odd Couple” cemented Simon’s place in theater history as a comedic innovator in total control of his craft.

The title conjures visions of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau along with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, difficult for even the most renowned theater companies to overcome.

The actors in Penobscot Theatre Company’s production, however, managed to push aside those images of Oscar Madison and Felix Unger when the production opened last week.

James A. Pyduck and Mark S. Cartier, professional actors based out of state, effectively made the characters their own. Pyduck brought the irresponsible and irrepressible slob Oscar to life with a casual yet cunning style. Cartier captured the nervous, neurotic Felix with every twitch and tic the playwright gave him. He may have managed to find a few more.

Pyduck’s Oscar was so relaxed in the role that at times it seemed as though all the character’s anger came out through his voice accompanied by his unruly, bushy eyebrows. As Oscar’s anger at Felix ebbed and flowed, Pyduck’s eyebrows danced above his wide, twinkling eyes.

While at times, the actor’s performance seemed too low-key for the bombastic character, Pyduck’s little-boy delight at entertaining the Pigeon sisters was charming and seductive. The performer found unfamiliar nuggets that offered the audience new insight into the irascible and quintessential Oscar .

Cartier, who’s appeared in “The Turn of the Screw” and “The Mystery of Irma Vep” at PTC, bears a striking resemblance to Lemmon, even though Cartier is bald. He found Felix’s vulnerable yet solid center and made the man’s mannerisms so irritating, theatergoers would have pitched their programs at him if they hadn’t been laughing so hard.

Kathleen Cooney and Jennifer McEwen, both PTC employees, were hysterical and delightful as the Pigeon sisters, the young English women who lure Oscar and Felix out of their bachelor doldrums. The actresses brought a high level of energy and enthusiasm to the stage that infected the other actors and the audience.

Oscar and Felix’s poker-playing buddies were portrayed by four renowned local actors – Rich Kimball, Ron Lisnet, Kent McKusick and Michael Weinstein. The four worked together like a well-oiled machine that never missed a beat or stepped on a laugh line.

Director Chris Dolman of New York did a fine job of staging the production on the Bangor Opera House’s large stage. Local and out-of-town cast members gave equitable performances. It was impossible to tell which actors had taken on the theater as a profession or which pursued it as an avocation.

Chez Cherry’s set and Lynne Chase’s lighting design served the cast well, although Oscar’s slovenly ways appeared to be no worse than those on display in most teen-agers’ rooms.

“The Odd Couple” can be a tough theatrical chestnut to crack, but PTC opened it up and shared the meat of Simon’s classic with a delighted opening night audience. Many plays, especially comedies, do not survive their times. Thanks to the actors, PTC’s production of “The Odd Couple” is as funny and fresh as it was when it opened on Broadway almost 40 years ago.

“The Odd Couple” will be performed at the Bangor Opera House through Sunday, May 19. For information, call 942-3333.