Storyline: Bored with both her marriage and the dreary London weather, an
English gentlewoman convinces three other women to pool their resources and
rent a villa on the Italian Riviera for the month of April in 1922. They
are soon joined by two husbands and one lover. But, since that is just two
men, the complications mount.The
play is based on a book by an English novelist whose byline sounded
strangely Germanic: Elizabeth von Arnim. Indeed, by the time she published
her first novel, she was the Countess von Arnim by virtue of her marriage to
the very Germanic Count Henning August von Arnim, a distant descendant of
Prussia's King Friedrich Wilhelm I. That novel was a semi-autobiographical
piece Elizabeth and Her German Garden. That was in 1898. Twenty-some years
later, with half a dozen novels that sold well under her name, she published
The Enchanted April which was subsequently filmed without the "the" in the
title. This play, also without the "the," is the second one to put the story
on the stage. A 1925 version by von Arnim and Kane Campbell was seen briefly
in the 1920s.
With four distinctly drawn characters in the leading
roles of the four "villa-mates," the play provides bright material for
Jessica Stone as the ring-leader of the plot, Heather Benjamin as her first
collaborator who is married to a writer who is off on book tours all too
much, Poppy Pritchett as a died-in-the-wool flapper and Marian Holmes as a
dowdy dowager who has little patience for modern folderol. Dayalini Pocock
is the most fun to watch, however. She is the Italian-speaking maid of the
villa who makes her views of her "guests" pursuits known despite any
language barrier. Add a crusty James McDaniel (whose demeanor makes his
deportment all the funnier when circumstances combine to reveal him sans
clothing at a most inopportune time - tea time) and a smooth Ron Brooks
as the writer who pursues more than sales during his book tours, and there
are enough laughs in the second act to make up for the rather exposition
heavy first.
The contrast between first and second acts isn't just
a matter of exposition versus resolution. It is also a difference in locale,
for the entire first act takes place in gloomy, rainy, foggy London town,
while the second is in glorious, colorful, sunny Italy. Ken and Patti
Crowley make the London scenes strikingly gloomy through the use of a
lighting effect simulating falling rain, and then highlight the change in
climate with bright, warm lighting representing the fabled Riviera sunshine.
Strangely, they hold back some of the intensity of the Italian effect from
the opening of the second act, probably because it is set early in the
morning and the Mediterranean sunshine is at its most intense in the
afternoon. Visible through the wisteria-covered arches of the villa's
colonnade is a lovely backdrop of the Cinque Terre terrain. It was painted
by the scenic painting class that director/set designer Kurtz teaches at
George Mason University. They seem to have learned their lessons well.
Written by Matthew Barber based on the novel by
Elizabeth von Arnim. Directed by Howard Vincent Kurtz. Design: Howard
Vincent Kurtz (set) LeeAnne Buckley, Jean Schlichting and Kit Sibley
(costumes) Paul Morton (hair and makeup) Betty Dolan and Wanda Perkins
(properties) Ken and Patti Crowley (lights) Alan Wray (sound) Shane Canfield
(photography) Margaret Evans-Joyce and Kira Simon (stage managers). Cast:
Ric Andersen, Heather Benjamin, Ron Brooks, Marian Holmes, James McDaniel, Dayalini Pocock, Poppy Pritchett, Jessica Stone. |
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June 7 – 28, 2008
The Underpants
Steve Martin (Picasso at The Lapin Agile) adapted this early
twentieth-century satire by German Carl Sternheim in which a government
official tries to avoid scandal and notoriety in the wake of his wife's
indiscretions which involve her undergarments.
July 26 - August 16, 2008
1776
The unique musical of the drafting of the Declaration of Independence gives
a very human portrait of Jefferson, Adams, Franklin as well as Richard Henry
Lee, John Hancock and the other founding fathers.
September 20 - October 11, 2008
Picnic
William Inge’s Pulitzer Prize winning drama sees a mysterious stranger
appearing at a small town picnic raising all sorts of passions, releasing
restraints and testing inhibitions. Howard Vincent Kurtz directs.
November 22 - December 20, 2008
Scrooge: The Musical
Leslie Bricusse (Jekyll & Hyde) wrote the score for this musical version of
Charles Dickens’ classic which features songs that run the gamut from “I
Hate People” to “I’ll Begin Again” and “Thank You, Very Much.” Lisa Anne
Bailey directs.
January 10 - 31, 2009
Greater Tuna
The original comedy about the third smallest town in Texas, a fast paced
comic romp that pokes affectionate fun at the stereotypes of the Lone Star
State, will be directed by.Al Edick.
February 21 - March 14, 2009
Leading Ladies
Ken Ludwig's cross-dressing farce about two unemployed Shakespearean actors
who work a scam on a rich old lady will be directed by C. Evans Kirk.
April 18 - May 9, 2009
Gross Indecency: The Three
Trials of Oscar Wilde
Frank D. Shutts II will direct Moises Kaufman's examination of the issues
swirling around Oscar Wilde from the day his homosexual lover's father "outed"
him to his death in exile.
June 6 - 22, 2009
It Runs in the Family
Roland Branford Gomez directs a British farce by Ray Cooney which ran in
London for years. |
