Lies destroy lives, no matter who tells them.
That is what happens in True North Theatre’s fine and thought-provoking production of “The Children’s Hour.” A disgruntled student at an all-girls boarding school tells her grandmother that the two women owners are lovers. As the lie spreads, the school is forced to close and their careers and relationships are upended.
It sounds like it all happened on the Internet but Lillian Hellman wrote the groundbreaking play that includes dialogue about homosexuality 90 years ago. “The Children’s Hour” was banned in Boston, London and Chicago and denied the Pulitzer Prize for drama after it was successfully produced on Broadway in 1934 to critical acclaim.
It will be performed this weekend at the Cyrus Pavilion at the University of Maine in Orono.
Two women having a sexual relationship is no longer scandalous. Maine voters approved same-sex marriage in 2012 and three years later, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized it in every state. Director Angela Bonacasa said in her program notes that she chose the play, in part, because it is a “snapshot of a world that used to be.”
“Understanding where we came from helps inform where we are now, and where we might go,” she said. “And sometimes we learn that we haven’t changed as much as we’d like to believe.”
With 16 characters, eight of them children, this is an unusually large cast for a True North show but Bonacasa builds an ensemble as tight as she has for productions with casts half this size. The director uses the Cyrus Pavilion, where the audience sits on three sides and above the stage, well and perfectly paces the action.
Tricia A. Hobbs and Abby Rice portray the school’s owners Karen Wright and Martha Dobie, respectively. Both give nuanced performances, especially in the second half when Martha realizes she is sexually attracted to her friend Karen, who does not reciprocate those feelings.
They beautifully capture an unenlightened time in American society when two women or men loving each other was considered “unnatural” and a form of mental illness. The characters’ anguish over how a lie wreaks havoc on their financial and emotional lives is heartbreakingly brought to life.
As Mary Tilford, the girl who spreads the lie about Karen and Martha, Jules Gudaitis is mesmerizing. The University of Maine student convincingly portrays the 13-year-old spoiled bully, who is used to getting her own way. Gudaitis beautifully captures the constant movement of this self-absorbed early teen. The actress honestly portrays Mary’s manipulation and scheming no matter the cost to others. It is a raw and powerful performance.
The lone male in the show, except for a delivery boy with few lines, is Karen’s fiance Dr. Joseph Cardin. He is unusually sensitive and supportive of her for a man born at the turn of the last century. Jared Roxby gives a solid and admirable performance especially when Joe, a standup guy, refuses to desert Karen after gossip forces them to consider moving.
Margo Lukens is delightful as Martha’s irritating, interfering, irresponsible aunt, Lily Mortar. In many ways, the actress shows us exactly the kind of person Mary Tilford will grow up to be. Alison Cox also gives a strong performance as Mary’s grandmother.
The design team successfully put the action in the 1930s. Ben Wetzel’s set, Scout Hough’s lighting design, Mark Muir’s costumes and Christopher Duff’s sound design put theatergoers in some beautifully furnished but stifling living rooms. The backstage run crew, led by Terri Moulin, deserves a round of applause for the most efficient and entertaining set changes ever attempted at the Pavilion.
The eight-year-old company’s greatest strength is its staging of classic American plays. Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple” and William Inge’s “Picnic” were beautifully brought to life by True North. Those productions proved that classic theater still has something to offer 21st century audiences as does “The Children’s Hour.”
Bonacasa and this cast show the audience where American society has been and assures theatergoers that it is not a place we ever want to venture back to.
True North Theatre’s production of “The Children’s Hour” will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Cyrus Pavilion at the University of Maine. For tickets, visit the company’s Facebook page at TNTTrueNorthTheatre.
