BWW Q&A: Charles LaBorde on ONE YEAR TO DIE at Matthews Playhouse of the Performing Arts

One Year to Die is based on the true story of Charles Laborde's uncle, Joe LaBorde, who was involved in the Salerno amphibious landing, marking the start of efforts to liberate Italy from Nazi Germany. His ship, the USS Rowan, was sunk returning from Salerno to Oran on September 11, 1943 and now rests in the Tyrrhenian Sea, about 25 miles south of the Isle of Capri.

While researching his uncle, LaBorde discovered a puzzling fact: though his uncle was killed and listed as missing in action on September 11, 1943, his Navy death certificate is dated September 12, 1944. This discrepancy led him to ponder how his grandmother, Edwina LaBorde, spent that year in limbo—knowing her son was likely dead but holding a glimmer of hope since his body was never recovered. 

One Year to Die is based on true events and real people, honoring the playwright’s grandmother, Edwina LaBorde, and the millions of other women who held the nation together on the homefront during World War II. Many of the characters in the play are based on real people and many of the incidents in the play are also taken from the playwright’s family’s history. Some characters and events in the play are fictional. 

The play is set in rural Louisiana during World War II and explores the harrowing experiences of Edwina, a White Cajun housewife played by Paula Baldwin, and Ella, an African-American widow played by Dr. Corlis Hayes as they anxiously await official word regarding their sons' fates in the war. Through their shared grief and experience, they bond while sewing a quilt.

This production will run for two weekends at Matthews Playhouse from September 20-29, 2024, with a special “Pay What You Can Preview” on Thursday, September 19th at 7:30 pm, benefiting the Matthews Veterans Memorial Restoration Project.

The play explores the enduring color line between races during WWII and today. It portrays two courageous women, equally dedicated to their sons' memories and enduring societal disapproval, who break racial barriers in the South in 1943-1944.

This production will also feature the incredible talents of award winning artists like Dennis Delamar (director), Paula Baldwin (as Edwina LaBorde), and Dr. Corlis Hayes (as Ella, an African-American widow).

One Year to Die will run September 20-29, 2024 at at Matthews Playhouse of the Performing Arts. Tickets can be purchased by going to https://www.matthewsplayhouse.com/one-year-to-die 

There will be a special "Pay What You Can Preview" on Thursday, September 19th at 7:30 pm, benefiting the Matthews Veterans Memorial Restoration Project. Learn more by visiting https://www.matthewsplayhouse.com/pwyc

​​​Dr. Charles LaBorde (playwright of One Year to Die) is an established figure in the Charlotte theatre community and is the recipient of numerous regional and national awards for acting, directing, designing, playwriting, and arts education. He is the founder of the nationally renowned high school at Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte where he served as principal for 15 years and honored with the renaming of the school’s black box theatre to the Charles LaBorde Theatre.

Charles is a full member of The Dramatists Guild, Inc.—the professional theatre association of playwrights, composers, and lyricists. His work, including the award-winning Protective Custody Prisoner, an adaptation of the Holocaust survivor memoir by Dr. Susan Cernyak-Spatz—Affinity—about Frank Lloyd Wright and the murders at Taliesen—and Unbound—about the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina have been performed nationally and abroad. He holds a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in theatre and doctoral certification in educational administration from the University of North Carolina. 

What inspired you to write "One Year to Die" based on your family's history?

When my mother passed away in the early years of this century, I inherited the World War II pictures of my father and his older brother, Joe. These ornate and lovingly framed portraits of them hang in my hallway now. I pass them every morning as I start my day and get coffee. I was particularly intrigued about Joe, the uncle I never knew (he died almost exactly five years before I was born). Since I only knew that he was killed in the invasion of Italy and that he was buried (I thought) in a military cemetery in Italy. I decided to look more into details, since my wife and I were headed to Italy and contemplated visiting his grave.

Could you share more about the research process into your uncle's life and his service during World War II?

As I looked at military archives, I discovered that Joe is not buried in that cemetery. He has a plaque there, but his body lies amid the wreckage of his ship at the bottom of the sea off the Isle of Capri. I then noted an apparent discrepancy--the ship sank in 1943, but his service record lists his death as a year later in 1944. More research followed and I learned that those missing in action were not declared dead until one year and a day had elapsed. While on my redeye flight to Rome, I spent the sleepless night thinking about what that year of uncertainty was like for my grandparents. I decided to imaginatively explore that year.

How did you approach the character development of real people who were part of your family's history?

In developing the characters I leaned heavily on people I knew from that greatest generation. While I knew and loved my grandmother, Edwina, throughout my youth and early adulthood, she was always a very frail elderly woman. Since the play takes place with her much younger, I gave her traits of my own mother--a little feisty, a little profane, tough on the outside, and sensitive on the inside. For Oscar, the grandfather I never knew, I chose my father-in-law as my model. He was a farmboy, like Oscar. He was a man of few words, but one who was always in charge and a man who did not suffer fools. That seemed right to me for Oscar.

Could you discuss the significance of the quilt in the play?

In addition to the loss of their sons, I needed to bring my two female lead characters into daily contact in a way that would make sense, given the racial barriers and unwritten "rules" of the day. Since I knew ladies of that generation who quilted--most notably my mother-in-law--I decided such a project would bring the two together and force them to get to know each other as people rather than racial stereotypes.

How does "One Year to Die" explore racial barriers and societal disapproval in the South during 1943-1944?

The racial line that is crossed in the play was still very strong when I was a kid growing up in the 1950's. I lived in the waning years of Jim Crow--segregated buses, separate entrances to movie theatres, and even separate water fountains for white and black. As a kid, I found myself questioning such nonsense and got the same answer from both my parents--it wasn't "right," but that was just the way things were done. I wanted to explore that line and portray how crossing it was equally difficult for the few white and black people who dared to do so.

How have your previous works and experiences in theatre influenced the creation of "One Year to Die"?

This really is a more traditional family drama than I have typically written. But it does have some similarities. Most of my plays deal with war and its effect on ordinary people. My most performed play, "Memorial," examines the Vietnam War through the eyes of the enlisted men and their families back home. My play "Unbound" catapults from the birth of flight in North Carolina to the skies over France in World War I. Both those plays have unrealistic elements, which are carried over into this play. At the start of "Memorial" all the characters are dead. In "Unbound" the ailing airman is visited by the ghosts of his past, especially his older brother, who has already died in the trenches of World War I. In this show we are visited by the ghosts of the two sailors who have lost their lives on the same ship at sea. None of the plays are "realistic," but this one more nearly approaches realism than the other two.

Why must audiences come and see the show?

The play is an emotional roller coaster that touches on such human experiences as family, grief, and racism affecting the lives of people who are trying to carry on when it would be much easier just to give up and give in to their sorrow. Be prepared--the play is a tear-jerker so bring lots of tissues. But it is also funny at times. It will also make enlightened 21st Century Theatre-goers uncomfortable as we explore the racial barriers. And finally it shows us how to overcome loss and grief--something we will all face sooner or later in our lives.

To post a comment, you must register and login.