April Brightens July in the Garden

Never mind the luminous sunset melting all over the amphitheater. Never mind the rustling redwoods and the occasional moth. Enchanted April will carry its audience to England in spring of 1922 for the next hour and a half, where recent war still tears at memory, and winter seems a permanent fixture of the landscape. There in March, rain slobbers down the window; thunder grumbles its disappointment; even the ritual of tea does not improve the mood.

What Lotty Wilton craves most is enchantment, away for all who’ve come through it “to balance our befores and afters.” Desperate to find relief, she’s even consulted the “Agony” department of the Times – and found hope.

An Italian castle is offered for rent in April “to those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine.” Lotty’s husband, Mellersh, would never agree to an Italian holiday, though he admires Lotty’s thrift and the way she ties his cravat. Holidays, he says, have “an inherent risk.”
Instead, she confides in Rose Arnott, a fellow churchwoman resembling “a disappointed Madonna.” Would Rose be part of the castle rental? Rose can’t even imagine it and quite properly rejects Lotty’s description of an Italian vacation as “heaven.” “Heaven is in our home,” she corrects, though a close look inside her home suggests otherwise.

Rose’s husband Frederick is a writer who is now producing salacious novels under the pen name Florian Ayres. He is beginning to act and dress the part, though Rose suggests he is less Valentino and more Chaplin.

Not to be denied, Lotty’s already put her entire nest egg down as a deposit on the castle, and an advertisement in the paper captures two more renters, Lady Caroline Bramble, a “modern” who’s in need of an escape, and Mrs. Graves, a dowager with references and rules; she’ll expect a deduction if there’s no wisteria. Rose gets money from Frederick when he leaves on a book promotion tour, and the deal for an enchanted April is done.

But the Italian sun lights up more than just the flower garden. “Ghosts are everywhere!” Lottie discovers. In this bright month, the castle’s occupants – Frederick and Mellersh now included -- reveal themselves in surprising ways, sometimes quite literally. Will it all end when April is over? Will an enchanted May follow? Lottie is optimistic that “the Afters have begun.”

Enchanted April, Porchlight Theatre Company’s newest production at the Marin Art & Garden Center, is a little gem of a production. Matthew Barber’s play (from Elizabeth von Arnim’s novel) is shorter, funnier, and more tender than the 1992 film of the same name. Porchlight’s Artistic Director, Molly Noble, plays the exuberant Lotty, with Michael Patrick Gaffney as her stuffy husband, Mellersh. A Company newcomer, Danielle Cain, is the Rose-who-blooms, with Nick Sholley as the delighted husband who discovers her.

Jon Wesley Burnett portrays the castle’s English owner, Mr. Wilding, and Linda Paplow is his more-than-competent Italian housekeeper, Costanza. (All Ms. Paplow’s lines, including body language, are Italian.) The last two castle-renters, modern Lady Caroline and tradition-bound Mrs. Graves, are played with distinction by Anna Bullard and Carol Mayo Jenkins.

The costumes are exactly right. The lighting and pared-down set enhance the story. And Elizabeth Craven’s well-timed direction brings out the best in each player.
It’s a fully satisfying way to spend a summer evening in any country, even Marin.
Enchanted April will play in the Redwood Amphitheatre at the Marin Art & Garden Center in Ross through July 17. Performances begin at 7:00pm. For additional information, see the website or call the box office, 488-7126.