Roommates – whether they are your best friends or complete strangers, at some point will likely become your biggest frustration.

But college roommates are one thing. Take two broke, middle-aged men with completely opposite lifestyles who wind up living together, and you have a completely different story.

One is a neurotic neat-freak, the other a divorced, disheveled slob. Together they are “The Odd Couple” – Neil Simon’s 40-year-old, award-winning play currently being performed at the Toledo Repertoire Theatre.

Set in the 1960s, the play shows what happens when two worlds collide – the worlds of the finicky Felix Unger and the slovenly Oscar Madison.

When the seemingly obsessive-compulsive Felix (played by John DuVall) is kicked out of his house by his wife, he decides to move in with his untidy friend Oscar (played by Jeffrey Albright).

As Felix’s anal-retentive tendencies begin to wear down Oscar’s patience, the living situation quickly turns into a domestic debacle with plenty of comical quarrels ensuing.

Whether they are fighting about footprints on the kitchen floor, the origins of gravy or the difference between a ladle and a spoon, they drive each other crazy – and, in the process, come to a better understanding of their friendship as well as themselves.

“It is a very funny, timeless piece about the strains of friendship,” said Albright, a Maumee native who has been performing for the past 28 years.

Albright’s real-life friendship with his co-lead, DuVall, certainly hasn’t strained his role as Oscar.

In fact, both Albright, 46, and DuVall, 38, said their off-stage friendship helps them play their parts in “The Odd Couple.”

“We’ve been friends for about 20 years,” said DuVall, who is also from Maumee. “We have a lot of history together, and I think that helps a lot with the onstage chemistry.”

Surprisingly, however, this is the first time they have been onstage together, as Albright lived in New York for 16 years, returning to Ohio only two years ago.

Nonetheless, the two actors said being friends makes it much easier to work with each other.

“There’s a great deal of chemistry that goes on onstage, and you can’t just create that,” Albright said. “There’s a great deal of trust, too, and it’s very comfortable up there.”

That doesn’t mean, however, that preparing for the play was easy for the two actors.

With a small supporting cast of six people, the play revolves around Felix and Oscar, requiring DuVall and Albright to put in many hours to solidify these eccentric performances.

In the five weeks prior to the first show on Nov. 4, the actors had 3-hour, nighttime rehearsals at least four days a week.

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun, too,” Albright said. “And it pays off when you hear the audience laugh so much.”

Indeed audiences have been laughing at “The Odd Couple” for the past four decades.

Simon’s original Broadway play was such a hit when it debuted in 1965, that it was followed by a successful film less than three years later as well as a popular, prime-time TV show that ran from 1970 to 1975.

Following in the footsteps of the famous faces who have played the roles of Felix and Oscar – including Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in the 1968 movie – may seem like a daunting task for DuVall and Albright, but both seasoned actors said they are more concerned with trying to make the roles their own.

“I made sure I didn’t watch the TV series or the movie, because I didn’t want that to influence me,” DuVall said. “I want it to be my own interpretation – My own creation, not an imitation of someone else.”

Many of the derivative works and spin-offs of the original play have taken this idea of creative adaptation to an extreme by revamping the play to appeal to modern and diverse audiences.

But the Toledo Repertoire Theater is taking the play back to its Broadway roots, remaining as close to the original script as possible. While the actors add their own flare to their characters, the story, setting and jokes remain the same.

“The Odd Couple” has already been tailored for almost every possible group, yet the original play has still stood the test of time, DuVall said.

“The Odd Couple” will be showing Nov. 11 to 13 and 17 to 20. Sunday performances begin at 2:30 p.m., while all others begin at 8 p.m.

For more information or to order tickets ($18) call the Toledo Repertoire Theatre at 419-243-9277.