Enchanted April

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

In its 32nd season, The Backstage Theatre cradled in the Breckenridge ski area, and 1850s gingerbread adornment, made an ingenious decision to add a Sunday afternoon matinee to its theatre run, allowing Denver theatre people a more viable opportunity to taste the ambiance of Breckenridge, and experience the quality oriented Backstage Theatre.

Spring is perfect timing for a production of Matthew Barber’s adaptation of the 1921 novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim, Enchanted April. Spring brings thoughts of renewal, the hope for magic, for something new and different, for fresh air to blow through the heart, mind, body, and soul, and this play does exactly that.

Although it centers around four very different women caught in a trapped maze of their own concoction, the play could easily be labeled a women’s play. Don’t let the basic premise fool you. It isn’t. It generously flirts with the unsettled times following World War I giving the men a taste of where they’ve been and where they are going. Although much of the conversation revolves around an enchanted castle in Mezzago, Italy nestled in fields of wisteria, it is also nestled in the midst of war-torn traumatized Europe, which cannot be ignored.

Jacquelyn L. Lies takes on the role of Lotty Wilton who has done everything she is suppose to do as wife to Mellersh (Michael G. Grittner), a pretentious, dominant London solicitor. Disenchanted with her daily humdrum life that keeps her busy but not engaged, Lotty’s roving eye catches an ad in the daily newspaper about San Salvatore, an Italian castle available for rent for the month of April. As narrator for the story that is about to unfold, Lotty sets the scene, paints the drab portrait of her life, and her desperate wantings. She sees things before they happen and her child-like enthusiasm makes them happen.

She just knows the prim and proper insecure Rose Arnott (Vanessa Bowie) cleverly scouts the ad. Too unsure of herself to do anything but the right thing even though she frequently doesn’t know what that is Lotty pounces on Rose. She has seen her at church, the two women are in the same women’s group, but they don’t know each other, Rose is not someone who would easily make friends. It just might not be the right thing to do. As Lies plays Lotty with chatty determination, convincing herself as well as anyone, being willing to reveal just about anything that pops into her mind, Bowie takes Rose to another dimension of constricted senses and a held close to the chest bodily image. Rose would like to dream, but she dare not for fear of where it would lead her. Bowie projects beautifully the conflicts running around loose inside her locked cage of being. You can see what she wants. You can see what she guards. Up against the active dreamer of Lotty, she doesn’t have a chance. Rose sees all the things that could go wrong, as tightly as her hair is pulled against her head. As Lotty summons courage to take a stand against her bellowing husband, she can see only the possibilities.

Grittner provides the air of Mellersh he deserves with snappy dress, snappy demands, biting expectations, and a ballooned superior head that will undoubtedly pop if he is allowed to dig any further into his helium filled ego. The more he demands, the more he feeds Lotty’s hunger for change, for mystery, for magic, for enchantment.

Frederick Arnott gets his slick conniving hungry emptiness from Tupper Cullum who knows just how to bring this closeted romantic to life. Frederick use to write poetry that deeply affected Rose. Now he embarrasses his pious wrapped wife by writing historical romances under the under the pseudonym of Florian Ayers. Rose makes her feelings known when she spouts, “One should not write books God would not like to read.” With a smirk on his face, and a smirk of his body, there is no question Frederick thinks God would love to read his books.

Lotty has it all figured out. With four women, splitting the cost, of April in San Salvatore, the expense would be a minor technicality.

Their first candidate is the rich, bored, socialite Lady Catherine Bramble, deliciously played by Laura “Faith” Rohrbacher who looks down her nose at everything and everyone with deplored detachment. Consenting to more familiarity, she informs Lotty and Rose they don’t have to call her Lady Bramble; they can address her as Lady Catherine. Something within her emptiness teases amusement at Lotty and Rose. Wearing her emptiness on her sleeve, this is a woman who will try anything once, and in some cases twice.

The second candidates is the elderly, cane waving, grouchy embittered Mrs. Graves. Diane Gadomski fills her black of soul as black as her stern high collar long sleeved dress. Filled with crisp daunting personal demands, Lotty and Rose see her as a fourth hand in the game. She’s a body they need. Certainly the castle will be big enough to accommodate her, and something within her amuses them.

In a meeting with the owner of San Salvatore, Anthony Wilding played with an air of personable sophistication by Joseph Norton, Lotty and Rose discovers the history behind the enchanted castle, the wonderment of a planted walking stick, drenching them with hope and anticipation. It can be an all- smiling moment of expectation when Anthony offers the two ladies tea. There is the choice of plain Black tea, and you know Rose will accept that over against the more daring blend which Lotty jumps at.

Phil Cope designed the set. Act I with a couple of chairs and a table signifying a variety of places in London is as drab as the London drenched drab lives of the characters.

The opening of the curtain in Act II literally brings gasps from the audience with its rich-toned Italian villa framed with flowers including the coveted wisteria, a painted backdrop of the Italian countryside. Beautifully designed and executed, Cope, in the two acts, captures the entire essence of Enchanted April.

Constanza comes with the villa, a maid who has been with the family for some time, a maid who knows how to handle a variety of different temperamental guests including Mrs. Graves. Lin Foa gives her the hardcore she’s-been-doing-this-job-for-a-long-time assurance and a behind the scenes sense of humor that will get her through anything.

The enchantment of San Salvatore begins to works its magic almost immediately. Lotty embraces it first, while the others drag their heels. Mrs. Graves demands everything be her way. Lady Caroline clings to her aloof desire to be alone. The clashes are humorous as everyone with the assistance of Costanza manages to keep things somewhat civil. Confusion flares when Lotty wires Mellersh to join her, which gives Rose courage to wire Frederick. Frederick, however, doesnŐt get the wire. He is on a book tour and hears Lady Catherine is at the castle. His double take and double speak to find this is also where Rose is sends him into a spiral of covering his tracks.

Humor abounds when Mellersh discovers scalding bath water running out with only a towel, he finds himself surrounded by people he has never met. It is quite difficult to shake hands while keeping a towel in place. He doesn’t, and the embarrassment cuts through his pomposity.

Anthony knows how to find the warmth hidden deeply in Mrs. Graves. Lady Caroline finds a means to filling her empty space. Lotty, Mellersh, and Rose and Frederick discover enchantment they always had, but thought they lost.

The flitting ad skipping of entrances and exits, unexpected moments, trusting moments, individuals cutting loose to discover friendship and in turn trust flirts with farce. Coated with humor. Enchanted April becomes a staunch reminder that sometimes what we look for is under our nose all of the time. It just needs a jumpstart fueled by risk.

There are times I wanted to pull Lies and Bowie aside to have them relax their arms to nurture more natural movements their characters would certainly adopt. A relatively minor point considering they have indeed given their heart and soul to Lotty and Rose.

Arnim’s best selling 1921 novel, which still happens to be in print, spawned a 1925 film, and again in 1991 starring Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson, Alfred Molina, Josie Lawrence, and Polly Walker. The demand for repetition claims its charm and enchantment speak volumes.

The Backstage Theatre’s production only adds to its enchanting charm with the actors’ refined expertise, deliberate staging, and a cloak of humor detailing truth beckoning for exploration.

It might do Backstage Theatre good to go further and explore the possibilities of more Sunday matinees. It certainly deserves the exposure.