Another year of Play Reading and everyone was ready. It was a pleasure to welcome new members to the class.
Our play for February was “Enchanted April” by Matthew Barber (from a novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim). The novel has also been made into films.
Sweet-natured Lotty Wilton is suffering depression from the bleak London winter, and from an oppressive relationship with her pompous solicitor husband. When she sees an advertisement in the paper to rent a castle in Italy for the month of April, an idyllic spot “for those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine,” she jumps at the chance to escape her downtrodden existence. Sensing an instant kinship with fellow housewife Rose Arnott, a severely angelic woman with sorrows of her own, Lotty persuades her along on the adventure. Seeking to reduce the costs, the two ladies find Caroline Bramble, a beautiful and exhausted socialite, and Mrs. Graves, an overbearing widow, to round out the party.
As the month passes, sun-drenched San Salvatore works its magic on each sad and hardened heart, healing grief and bringing hope. And with the arrival of two chastened husbands and one attractive young artist, romance blooms again. This is a gentle and romantic comedy of manners, against the backdrop of a country still reeling from World War I.
With the play taking place in April, and the enchantment found, the title gives a good introduction to the play’s plot. It addresses themes such as self-fulfilment, love, the intrinsic value of the natural world, and the texture of memory. The characters are all different. They are beautifully drawn, showing the contrasts but how the environment transforms each of them, particularly the overbearing Mrs Graves.
Looking at the play as a piece of literature, it meets many of the requirements – it provides an interesting start with a story about a walking stick growing into an acacia tree, introducing the era, provides a picture of how everyone grows but includes some backstory, and wraps up with the changes in everyone and a repeat of the walking stick story, coming full circle.
An enjoyable play with humour and romance as well as some serious points.
Joy Shirley
Our play for February was “Enchanted April” by Matthew Barber (from a novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim). The novel has also been made into films.
Sweet-natured Lotty Wilton is suffering depression from the bleak London winter, and from an oppressive relationship with her pompous solicitor husband. When she sees an advertisement in the paper to rent a castle in Italy for the month of April, an idyllic spot “for those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine,” she jumps at the chance to escape her downtrodden existence. Sensing an instant kinship with fellow housewife Rose Arnott, a severely angelic woman with sorrows of her own, Lotty persuades her along on the adventure. Seeking to reduce the costs, the two ladies find Caroline Bramble, a beautiful and exhausted socialite, and Mrs. Graves, an overbearing widow, to round out the party.
As the month passes, sun-drenched San Salvatore works its magic on each sad and hardened heart, healing grief and bringing hope. And with the arrival of two chastened husbands and one attractive young artist, romance blooms again. This is a gentle and romantic comedy of manners, against the backdrop of a country still reeling from World War I.
With the play taking place in April, and the enchantment found, the title gives a good introduction to the play’s plot. It addresses themes such as self-fulfilment, love, the intrinsic value of the natural world, and the texture of memory. The characters are all different. They are beautifully drawn, showing the contrasts but how the environment transforms each of them, particularly the overbearing Mrs Graves.
Looking at the play as a piece of literature, it meets many of the requirements – it provides an interesting start with a story about a walking stick growing into an acacia tree, introducing the era, provides a picture of how everyone grows but includes some backstory, and wraps up with the changes in everyone and a repeat of the walking stick story, coming full circle.
An enjoyable play with humour and romance as well as some serious points.
Joy Shirley
Our play for March is The Odd Couple, (female version), by Neil Simon. There are two male roles (6 women and 2 men in the cast), so it should be okay. We have at least two men in the group now!
Shirley Swallow and Joy Shirley
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