Suffield Players Invite You to Experience a Lush Theatrical Holiday
Enchanted April
by
Matthew Barber
from the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim
Weekends, May 6 - 22, 2010
PERFORMANCE DATES
May 6, 7, 8; 14, 15; 21 & 22 at 8:00 PM
Special Matinee on Sunday, May 15, at 2:00 PM
Mapleton Hall
1305 Mapleton Ave, Suffield CT
Doors open one hour prior to curtain.
Tickets are $12 for the first Thursday and $17 thereafter.
Discounts for students and seniors.
For Tickets 1-800-289-6148 or 860-668-0837.
Or order online at www.suffieldplayers.org
Reviewed by Donna Bailey-Thompson
When the novel, Enchanted April, by Elizabeth von Arnim was published in 1922, the scars of The Great War (WW I) were still relatively raw. War had helped accelerate both the demise of Victorian England constraints and the advent of The Jazz Age. When the novel was written, the arrival of high-spirited Flappers with their bobbed hair and flirty skirts that teased the knee was on a cusp which, come to think of it, could be a subtitle for Enchanted April.
Restlessness is afoot. The Christmas holiday is history; London’s winter seems more interminable than ever because the bloody rain is not merely dampening spirits but drowning one of life’s greatest gifts – hope. For two English housewives, dismay and despondency have become their middle names. But Lotty Wilson (the adorable Vanda Doyle) is not ready to surrender to defeat. When she and a fellow woman’s club member happen to read the same ad in a newspaper about a castello for rent in Italy – sunny Italy! – hope infuses Lotty. She and the emotionally wounded Rose (sensible, contained Amy Rucci) could rent the castle if two other women were recruited to help share the cost. And they would go to Italy as wives sans husbands, a shocking concept within their stolid middle class mores.
How they have restrained themselves from offing their dull husbands, who’ve been indoctrinated with a maddening air of entitlement, is testimony to the women’s patience bolstered by centuries of instilled submission. Lotty’s husband Mellersh Wilton, a stuffy solicitor (the accomplished character actor Dana T. Ring) expects Lotty to do his bidding: make sure the daily Times is available and to tie his tie for him. Et cetera. When she tests her independence by telling him she would rather not attend a business function with him because she (a vibrant chatterbox) finds the conversations intimidating, he ponders for a nano second before advising her to inject, "Marvelous!" regardless of the topic. Rose’s husband Frederick (slickly played by Brian Rucci) is cut from a bolt of cloth similar to Mellersh's except Freddie is fidelity challenged.
Two other women answer the ad posted by Lotty and Rose: the seemingly sophisticated Lady Caroline (the-made-for-the-role Karen Balaska) and the haughty overbearing Mrs. Graves (appropriately forceful Anna Marie Johansen). At the castle, are the owner Antony (the believable Joshua Guenter), who seeks a widow – any widow will do – and the housekeeper/cook, Costanza, she of the merry disposition and seven league boot stride, energetically and empathetically portrayed by Karen Sidel.
Mezzago, Italy is the antithesis of foggy London town. Blooming wisteria is everywhere. Barefoot Lotty and Rose wear white cotton shifts. Rose is bewildered by culture shock; Lotty has gone pagan. She raises her arms to the sun, absorbing Italy, melting away England, and says, “Take it in, Rose! Paradisimo, our day in heaven!” Lotty’s never-say-die disposition frees her hopefulness and longing for her husband enough to send him a telegram. Mellersh gets there so fast he must have winged in on a zephyr. To his sun-kissed wife, his heart speaks, “I thought I’d lost you.” That’s not all he almost lost. He is surprised coming from the shower with only a large towel that slips a lot, a towel he uses as adroitly as any matador with a cape. The audience is beside itself.
Dustin Sleight’s directorial debut with the Suffield Players is a success. The costume designs by Dawn McKay and Rebecca Murray are outstanding. Jerry Zalewski lighting design and Joe Soucy’s sound operations (all that rain and thunder and lightning) are almost too realistic. Once again, Konrad Rogowski has designed an impeccable set: there are the stark, utilitarian London interiors that literally open into the romantic embrace of viva Italia.
Because its deceptively frothy emotions are combined with a pithy back story, Enchanted April is an ageless period piece.
ENCHANTED APRIL
Reviewed by Mary Richards
Richards
The grey and black backdrop with a hodge-podge of London buildings against an equally gray sky, and the almost constant sound effects of rain and thunder, serve as a metaphor for the characters drab emotional states...and secret desire to escape, not just home, but also from relationships.
A Times rental ad of an Italian villa promising sunshine and wisteria, creates a picture the whimsical and fey Mrs. Welton cannot ignore. A bright spirit in danger of drowning, she vows to escape England for the month of April even at the cost of offending her overly analytical and stuffy husband. Lotty Welton and fellow church goer, Rose Arnot, search out two roommates who are also widowed, to financially secure the dream and head to Italy sans husbands.
Sunshine, wisteria and a series of unexpected twists and turns, releases buried stress, creates new perspectives and magic for all. Husbands and wives learn to appreciate themselves and their mates. The singles among them loosen up, reach out and discover previously unseen possibilities for happiness.
Bottom line: How do you spell relief? In this play it’s spelled I-T-A-L-Y.
The Suffield Players make this romantic comedy believable, convincing and well worth your time.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recognized as one of the region's leading theater companies,
The Suffield Players is dedicated to providing
Greater Hartford CT and Springfield MA areas
with quality live theater.
For more information about the Suffield Players,
upcoming productions, and ticket information,
visit www.suffieldplayers.org
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