[NEohioPAL] Review of "Enchanted April" at CVLT

[Bob Abelman]

January doldrums give way to 'Enchanted April' at the CVLT

 

Bob Abelman

 

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times,

The Morning Journal, Geauga Times Courier

Member, American Theatre Critics Association 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 1/20/12

 

 A thoroughly enchanting, absolutely charming, and tenderly produced romantic comedy can be found on the Chagrin Valley Little Theater stage.

 

Enchanted Apri" by Matthew Barber is based on the 1922 novel by Elizabeth von Arnim.  It tells the tale of four English women who break free of their oppressive, narrowly defined lives in rain-drenched and war-weary London for a month in the warm countryside of northern Italy.  There, the rejuvenating powers of sun, sea, and sisterhood work their magic. 

 

If you've read or seen Under the Tuscan Sun or other stories of the self-discovery that comes to those with a hungry heart and a passport, Enchanted April is familiar territory in both treatise and temperament. 

 

 In typical fashion, the first act establishes the sources of our heroines' dissatisfaction; the second act devotes itself to their reawakening.   

 

The entire story is told as if through a pleasant rose-colored filter that softens edges, highlights personal insights, and accentuates sentimentality.

 

The four women in this play are easily recognizable as well, for they are variations on the types of souls from stage and screen who are in desperate need of healing.  

 

Lotty Wilton, the wing-clipped free spirit who initiates this southern excursion, and Rose Arnott, an emotionally stunted Sunday school teacher, are two women trapped in unsatisfying marriages-Lotty to a stoic, tight-buttoned solicitor and Rose to a biographer of lives more interesting than his own.  The playwright takes great care to suggest a parallel between Lotty and Rose's marital status and that of the widows of World War I, all of whom have lost their husbands. 

 

Joining them in Italy is Lady Caroline Bramble, a glamorous socialite who is exhausted by the attention she craves and invites, and Mrs. Graves, a small-minded elitist still living in the Victorian age.  Both are in serious need of pampering and perspective.

 

What separates Enchanted April from the many other plays of this ilk is that von Arnim's writing is full of lovely, lyrical prose rather than flowery verbosity, Barber's adaptation integrates rather than force-feeds light-hearted moments, and this CVLT production under Brendan Sandham's fluid direction is simply wonderful.  

 

It all begins with Edmond Wolff's contrasting scenic and lighting designs for the first and second acts.  Without giving anything away, so as not to lessen the impact of the visual transition from London to Italy, it is fair to say that Wolff's creative choices produce just the right ambiance for this play. 

 

Although clearly an ensemble production, the play is spearheaded by the delightful Dawn Hill as Lotty.  Hill is saddled with the play's loftier, overly expressive lines, including a long monologue that borders on poetry at the start of the play.  Hill delivers everything with a flighty innocence, as if her words flow faster than her mind can comprehend, so that she is as delighted at what comes out of her mouth as we are.  Lotty notes ''My husband says that my mind is like a hummingbird; one seldom sees it land.'' Hill captures this beautifully.  

 

The rest of the cast approaches their roles with the same authenticity, finding the essence of their characters without seeming to try too hard.  Caitlin Van Niel's subtle transition from the dour and pious Rose to a blossoming flower is marvelous, as is Anna Davis' lightening up of mean Mrs. Graves and Evie Koh's mellowing of tightly-wound Lady Caroline.  The adorable Pamela Ruiz, as the villa's non-English speaking maid Costanza, uses a glance, a smirk, and just the right emphasis on an Italian word to speak volumes.

 

As for the husbands, they are mere vehicles to first establish their wives' misery and then marvel at their reinvention.  However, they too are moved by the magic after a series of contrived circumstances get them to Italy.  Don Knepper, as the stuffy Mellersh Wilton, handles his character's metamorphosis with incredible charm and his appearance in nothing but a shirt after a bathtub mishap is nothing short of priceless.  Brint Learned's performance as Frederick Arnott is remarkably tender as he rediscovers his wife and the love he has long been ignoring.  

 

As Antony Wilding, the engaging and solicitous proprietor of the property, Matthew Mortensen is spot on. 

 

So well done is this production that it, too, is transformative.  You may not feel the Mediterranean sunshine through the January cold or smell the wisteria, but you may sense the healing powers of friendship and romance.  

 

Enchanted April continues through February 4 at the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, 40 River Street, Chagrin Falls.  For tickets, $12 to $16, call 440-247-8955 or visit www.cvlt.org.