‘And a Nightingale Sang’ Looks at War Affecting Family Life

Posted on July 18, 2023 by Karen Nowosad
The cast of And a Nightingale Sang… Photo by Sarah Haley

Now playing at the Shakespeare Theatre Of New Jersey (STNJ) is the play And a Nightingale Sang. Written in 1977 by British playwright C.P. Taylor, it has been seen both as a play and a film. The play is about a family living in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England during World War II. It has some humor to help balance out some very intense scenes about the war and what it is doing to the Scott family. This production includes songs from that era played by a family member on the home piano.

Bonnie J. Monte provides direction of a fine cast and outstanding staging. Monte writes in her Director’s Notes, that this play had been on her list of shows she wanted to do for quite awhile. As this is her last season as the STNJ’s Artistic Director, she knew that time arrived. Audiences will be pleased with the results of her efforts. This production provides a rare look at how war affects everyday people rather than the military as they take action or even politicians. I agree with what Monte wrote in those Notes that the larger powers have the power to bring horrific events to the world. Strength is needed to cope with these actions and it falls to the every day person trying to live their own lives to deal with that the best they can.

A Story of Survival and Growth

By design, And a Nightingale Sings provides a microcosm of personalities in one family representative of a society of the time. The characters in the play are a part of the Scott family who live in the Newcastle, England area.

The story is told in two acts starting with Scene 1 in September 1939 and additional scenes at key times during the war from 1940, 1942, 1944, and finally 1945 as the war ends. Significant events such as D-Day and VE Day are mentioned.

The play has a narrator who is one of the Scott daughters, Helen (Monette Macgrath), She is the older of the two sisters and she walks with limp This slight imperfection leaves a mark on her in that she does not feel any man would want her. So when she meets an officer in the British armed forces, Norman (Benjamin Eakeley), she enters into a love affair and eventually leaves the family home to go to live with him. Her persona is gentle and warm and she wins the audience over immediately.

However, it is a little different with the other sister, Joyce (Sarah Deaver). Initially, she turns one off by the nature of her selfish and somewhat reckless behavior. Looking to have a good time, she meets soldier Eric (Christian Frost). After a great deal of pondering, she accepts his proposal of marriage and some of the difficulties of a couple not being able to see other come through in their relationship.

Both of these sisters’ relationships say volumes about wartime romances. Some survive, some do not. And in this play, that is exactly what happens. However, the sisters learn and grow from all of these experiences and come out different people at the War’s end.

Three Generations of the Scott Family

Anchoring the household are the elder members including the grandfather, Andie (Sam Tsoutsouvas). His role adds some humor to the play especially as he seeks out a room and he recounts some of experiences in finding one.

Finally, Peggy Scott (Marion Adler) is the mother. Hard to determine her level of stability because she is constantly dashing off to the local church for comforting and to check on the safety of the pastor. George Scott (John Little) offers a settled image as he plays the piano with songs of the era. In many ways, the music becomes a grounding source of comfort for all.

Special Effects and Staging Assist the Story Being Told

Major cities in England were constant targets of Nazi bombing raids so this is written into the play. Civilians needed to deal with air raid warning sirens, staying in bomb shelters, and finally hearing the all clear sound. Also shown are the gas masks needed at various times which members of the family have and use at times. These were difficult times and the play brings that out.

George serves as a volunteer in the Civil Defence Service helping people as needed especially when air raid sirens go off. The sound is frightening and the reactions of the players takes different forms. STNJ does an excellent job with the sounds of the sirens and bombs dropping. One can feel the fear hearing the overhead planes coming in and bombs dropping all around them. It is distressing to watch people hoping they will come out alive.

The stage is designed to be a two story house but also some steps down for the bomb shelter. Lighting is also used to enhance some events taking place.

Highly Recommend Going to see And a Nightingale Sang

This play by C.P. Taylor is well written and the STNJ does a superb job presenting it on stage. You will experience some of the anxiety people of this time felt while they lived through it. Additionally, these are characters who represent the every day people who lived in English at the time.

I have purposely left out the full description of who ends up with whom and what happens to the characters because some of it needs to unfold to you, as an audience member. Some might surprise. But if you are a student of history of World War II, some will not. However, the experience seeing this play is well worth it.

And a Nightingale Sang Tickets and Special Offerings

Ticket prices range from $34 to $65. The Theatre offers various cost-saving opportunities:

  • $15 student rush tickets, which are available 30 minutes prior to each performance, with a valid student ID.
  • A limited number of Pay What You Can tickets for every performance on a first-come, first-serve basis.
  • A $30 Under 30 ticket option, which offers $30 tickets for patrons aged 30 and under, with valid ID. 
  • Other discounts are available including subscription discounts, a 10% discount for members of PBS/Thirteen and AAA members. 
  • For tickets, call the Box Office at 973-408-5600 or visit ShakespeareNJ.org.

And a Nightingale Sang Audience Enrichment & Accessible Performances

For the same price as a regular ticket, the Symposium Series performances offer a post-show discussion with the cast and artistic staff. For And a Nightingale Sang…, Symposium performances are on Tuesday, July 18 at 7:30 PM, Saturday, July 22  at 2:00 PM, and Saturday, July 29 at 2:00 PM.

The Know-the-Show pre-show talks are available free of cost with the purchase of a performance ticket. Prior to the Thursday, July 20th performance, at 7:00 PM, Ms. Monte will conduct a pre-show talk and Q&A for interested patrons. The performance that night follows at 8:00 PM.

The Shakespeare Theatre also offers Closed-Caption performances and Audio-Described performances throughout the season. The captioned performance for And a Nightingale Sang… will be on Thursday, July 20th at 8:00 PM. The Audio-Described performance will be on Thursday, July 27th at 8:00 PM. For more information, please contact the Box Office.

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‘Satellites’ Explores Time and Relationships

Posted on July 15, 2023 by Karen Nowosad
Ellyn Heald and Terrell Wheeler in Satellites at Premiere Stages at Kean –
Photo by Mike Peters

Premiere Stages at Kean is now presenting a new play, Satellites. Written by Erin Breznitsky, Satellites is the winner of the 2022 Premiere Play Festival. This play features a unique story enhanced through strong staging including projections on a large back screen which helps emphasize the role of outer space to the plot. Additionally, sound, lighting, and scenic design add to the strength of the production as the story unfolds.

Prepare yourself to see an adventure that captures your imagination as two people experience a difficult situation that tests their love and relationship with each other.

The cast has two people who turn in fine performances that extend the adventure of the story. Terrell Wheeler plays Captain Mike Turner and Ellyn Heald plays Dr. Katherine Sparks. All of the action falls upon these two people and they are up to the task.

Good direction of the play is by Premiere Stages Producing Artistic Director, John J. Wooten. His direction brings in that staging that allows the audience to feel immersed in the drama as it unfolds. In press notes, Mr. Wooten stated the following about the show:

“This exciting new production is the first time Premiere Stages will be incorporating a three projection set up into a design. Erin’s approach provides an innovative and seamless exploration of the unknown limits of time and space.”

John J. Wooten

The Story of Satellites

The story uses a series of scenes that show present day and flashbacks of Katherine and Mike’s early life. It opens in present day than flashes back to the past. Then another present day scene is shown followed by another flashback and thus a pattern of action develops.

Many of the flashbacks show how Katherine and Mike met and began their lives together. She is a scientist studying climate change and he is an astronaut. They have two children together before Mike answers the call to travel on a what starts out to be a two week space mission.

The space mission is going well but suddenly Mike’s shuttle vanishes in outer space. There is no contact with him and search missions take place. Eventually, the search ends and Mike is assumed to be dead.

Katherine continues her life alone, raising their children and continuing her life’s work. She uses a Radio Shack signaling device to say things to her missing husband hoping that maybe the signal will be picked up. One day, Mike is found by the wreckage of a crash in South America. However, he has no memory of what happened to him. As the couple reunites, the play focuses on their relationship as they try to decide if they can continue as a married couple.

You will need to draw your own conclusions at the end as to whether or not they have enough love and a relationship to continue their marriage. The play gives you enough to think about, both pros and cons, as to where they are headed in the future.

Is it Sci-Fi or a More Traditional Play or Both?

One could argue that playwright Erin Breznitsky’s play is in the Sci-Fi category.After all, where was Mike for those seven years? Was he in outer space all that time? Or was he transported to another time or dimension? Satellites does not analyze those concepts. It probably does not need to do that.

Instead, Satellites attempts to answer questions of what happens to people who love each other when they are separated for a very long period of time especially with no contact. Can they continue their relationship when so many issues remain unanswered? People change over a period of time and how relevant are those changes to what a relationship had been? Does love overcome these concerns? This play attempts to give insights into these questions.

Performance Run and Tickets

Satellites runs July 13-July 30 in the Bauer Boucher Theatre Center on the Kean University main campus in Union, N.J. Performances take place Thursdays and Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm, and Sundays at 3:00 pm.

Tickets are $35 standard, $25 for senior citizens and Kean alumni and staff, $20 for patrons with disabilities and $15 for students. Significant discounts for groups of ten or more apply.

To purchase tickets or to make inquire, call the box office at 908-737-7469 or visit premierestagesatkean.com/shows/Satellites/

Going to the Theater

This show offers a nice opportunity for affordable entertainment this summer. There is no need to worry about the heat because the facility is nicely air-conditioned. Additionally, there is free parking very close to the entrance way.

All Premiere Stages facilities are fully accessible spaces, and companion seating is available for patrons with disabilities. Assistive listening devices and large print playbills are available at every performance.

Sign language interpretation performances are available upon request; please call 908-737-4077 at least two weeks prior to your desired performance. For more information, please visit Premiere Stages online at premierestagesatkean.com.

The area around the theater has a number of good spots to get a meal or a snack. One of my favorite spots is the Mark Twain Diner which is right down Morris Avenue about 7 miles from the Bauer Boucher Theatre Center. The food is good and the service is very helpful and friendly.

Photo by K. Nowosad
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‘The Rose Tattoo’ Onstage in Madison

Posted on June 5, 2023 by Karen Nowosad
Pictured: Antoinette LaVecchia and Anthony Marble. Photo by: Sarah Haley

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey opens their 2003 season with a classic from Tennessee Williams titled The Rose Tattoo. The production is an outstanding play to see due to several factors and the direction by Bonnie Monte. In her Director’s Notes, Monte writes that she was fortunate to have an opportunity to work with Tennessee Williams in 1981 and 1982 shortly before he died. She writes, ” He has influenced my life in the theatre more than any other playwright besides Shakespeare. The Rose Tattoo is Tennessee’s homage to love and life, and this production is my grateful homage to him.”

The story is well told with good pacing so there is not a slow moment in the 2,5 hour show. A strong group of actors give superb performances. The set helps to develop the story and allows the characters to show their various states of emotions. Overall, this is a wonderful way to begin the 2023 series at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.

Background about The Rose Tattoo

Tennessee Williams wrote The Rose Tattoo in 1949 – 1950. It was first presented in Chicago in 1950 with Maureen Stapleton playing the lead role.

The play opened on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on February 3, 1951 where it ran until October 27, 1951 after 306 performances. The Rose Tattoo received six Tony Awards including Best Play, Set Design, Author of a Play, Featured Actor (Eli Wallach) and Featured Actress (Maureen Stapleton). It has been revived on Broadway three times: 1966, 1995, and 2019.

In 1955, a film adaptation was produced starring Burt Lancaster and Anna Magnani who won an Academy Award for Best Actress.

The Story of The Rose Tattoo

The story centers on Italian/American Serafina Delle Rose who is deeply in love with her husband Rosario. She married him when she was a very young teenager (approx. 14) and they have one child, Rosa, who is 12 years old. There appears to be a lusty relationship between the two and Serafina is pregnant with her second child as the play begins. Rosario has a tattoo of a rose on his chest and Serafina claims that she knows she has conceived because the tattoo appears on her as well.

Rosario has an accident and is killed causing Serafina to miscarry her child. The tattoo also disappears. Rosario’s death pushes Serafina into unbearable grief.

The next part of the play is three years later and Serafina is still in deep mourning for her husband, Although she continues to be a seamstress, she wears the same night clothes and a robe day after day. Her daughter, now 15, is preparing to graduate from high school and she has a sailor boyfriend., Jack. Her mother does not want her to see this man. Many of Serafina’s customers arrive to pick up dresses she made for their graduation. She agrees to go to see her daughter graduate.

Enter next Alvaro, a charismatic man who also works driving a truck like Rosario did. Perhaps that connection is what makes them click instantly and very quickly they become involved. Serafina invites him to come for dinner, Suddenly, Serafina is able to dress in pretty clothing as Alvaro arrives also sporting a rose tattoo. They spend the night together. When Rosa returns from her evening out with Jack, the sailor, Alvaro mistakes her for Serafina and a near disaster is averted.

As the play ends, Rosa leaves the house to go to meet Jack and marry him before he ships out to sea. Serafina forgives Alvaro. She announces she is with child again and mentions another appearance of a rose tattoo on her. She feels certain she has again conceived a child.

A Strong Group of Actors

There are 16 actors who deliver performances in The Rose Tattoo. Some are in groups outside of Serafina’s house and others are the customers who use her sewing services. All of the players are marvelous and at times cluster together to show themselves as a community.

However, the major parts include:

Antoinette LaVecchia who gives a stunning performance as Serafina. She does a remarkable job of portraying a woman who suffers from extreme grief to a woman who longs for the company of a man. Her suffering and grief are heartfelt but sad to see that it is only having a man in her life to make it worthwhile. She places her grief onto her daughter not allowing her the joys of growing up.

Billie Wyatt plays daughter Rosa. She does an outstanding job of bringing out the longing this young girl would experience first losing her father and then in many ways also losing her mother as she grieves. Her desire to live her own life is well portrayed and we root for her as she leaves the house to go to her boyfriend, Jack. She is only shown as being 15 in this play and in many ways this is sad to see how young she is and the limited life she seeks out.

Anthony Marble plays Alvaro Mangiacavallo who is quite a character in the midst of this grief. Perhaps it takes a personality like Alvaro to bring someone back from their grief. Marble plays it show, but makes it clear that he desires Serafina. Why does she fall so quickly for him? Perhaps its because of the similarity he has to her late husband. Serafina’s ties to her old ideas and old ways of life will only allow someone like this character to penetrate her strong hold on the past.

Setting

The setting for this play is Serafina’s house. The Shakespeare Theatre always does a good job designing their sets and this one is no exception. Audiences will see most of the house except the bedroom. And that ties well into the privacy involved with the intimacy shared by the man and woman.

One very prominent area is in the living/dining room where a statue of the Blessed Mother is on display. Lighting shines on it throughout the show making it a center piece of the house.

NOTE: Photo comes from The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s website.

The location of the house is on the edge of the Gulf Coast somewhere between New Orleans and Mobile – 1951 – 1954. It is an Italian/Sicilian colony. The bond between people who live here which comes through in the play.

Going to See The Rose Tattoo

The Rose Tattoo runs now through June 18, 2023 at the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre in Madison, NJ. Tickets are available through the Theatre’s website or directly in person at the Box Office. You may also call the Box Office at 973-408-5600.

Cost saving options are available including $15 student rush tickets which are available 30 minutes prior to each performance with a valid Student ID. There are a limited number of Pay What You Can tickets available on a first-come, first-serve basis. The 30 under 30 option offers $30 tickets for patrons under age 30 with a valid ID. 10% discounts for available for members of PBS/Thirteen and AAA.

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