Maryland's Silver Spring Stage Presents ENCHANTED APRIL, Now thru 4/29

Silver Spring Stage presents Enchanted April by Matthew Barber, from the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim, directed by Laurie Freed and produced by Pauline Griller-Mitchell and Gerry Schuchman. A breezy and witty comedy of two frustrated London housewives renting a villa in Italy for a holiday away from their marriages. Enchanted April will perform weekends now through April 29.

Silver Spring Stage is located in the Woodmoor Shopping Center, lower level (next to the CVS) at Colesville Road and University Boulevard. Ticket prices are $20 for adults and $18 for seniors and students. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM, and Sundays at 2:00 PM. Tickets can be purchased at www.ssstage.org. Information is also available by calling (301) 593-6036.

Enchanted April started as a book by Elizabeth von Arnim, the pen name of Mary Annette Beauchamp, an Australian-born British novelist. She later took the name as her own. In 1891, she married a Prussian Count, whom she called "Man of Wrath" for his domineering character. Her escape was writing and many of her works reflect her marriage problems, including Enchanted April, written in 1922, where the women literally escape their husbands to Italy for refuge and respite. Enchanted April has been adapted five times: two Broadway plays (1925 and the Tony Award-nominated 2003 version), two films (1935 and 1992) and a musical in 2010. A friend of Matthew Barber gave him the book in 1994 to read and he fell in love with it. He bought the stage rights for $1,500 and wrote most of the play while as a proofreader at an advertising firm. He focused this new version on the underlying drama and relationship of the characters and less on the Italian scenery and inward thoughts. He changed some of the characters' names to make them easier to pronounce. Coincidentally after finishing the play, he was invited to spend a holiday in Italy, which he recounted: "It was like I was living it." Enchanted April premiered in Hartford in 2000 and moved to Broadway with a cast featuring Elizabeth Ashley and Molly Ringwald in 2003. Barber emphasized the essential theme of the story that "nothing is ever going to stay the same" as the women find themselves transformed from foggy London to sun-drenched Italy. Audiences will find themselves equally transformed by this enchanting romantic comedy.

Lotty (Natalie McManus) has been saving for a rainy day and spies an ad to rent an Italian villa. She recruits her friend Rose (Annette Kalicki) to join her in this chance for rejuvenation. Lotty gives Rose the courage to face her husband Frederick (Jonathan Dyer), while Lotty convinces her husband Mellersh (Eric Henry). To afford the villa, the women find two more Lady Caroline (Sonia Motlagh), a socialite, and Mrs. Graves (Patricia Kratzer), an eccentric older woman to experience their own transformation. The villa is owned by the stylish Wilding (Bob Scott) and maintained by Costanza (Shelly Rochester) who speaks limitEd English. Among the wisteria blossoms, the women of Enchanted April rediscover themselves in ways that they-and we-could never have expected

The production team includes Adam Simms (Stage Manager), Anna Britton (Set Design/Set Decoration), Nick Sampson (Sound Design), Peter Caress (Light Design), Kathie Mack and Joan Rosebloom (Costume Design), and Nancy Eynon Lark (Props Design).

Silver Spring Stage continues its 2011-2012 season with theshocking tragedy The Beauty Queen of Leenane (May 18-June 9) and compelling drama Stop Kiss (June 29-July 21).

 

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