Suffield Player’s “Enchanted April” an Italian getaway

SUFFIELD — It’s “Sex and the City” meets All’Italia in the marvelous romantic comedy, “Enchanted April” at the Suffield Players.
The show, which had it’s world premier a decade ago at our own Hartford Stage Company, was written by Matthew Barber based on the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim.
It is the story of four very different English women in post-World War II who decide to rent a coastal villa in Italy for the month of April.
The first half of the play finds flighty but somewhat psychic Lottie, who is the mastermind behind the plan to get away with just women for a holiday, rounding up the other vacationers.
Lottie meets Rose and they decide to get two other women to split the cost of renting the villa by placing an advertisement in the newspaper.
Rose is the sad Madonna who has a secret sorrow. They find the wealthy and beautiful Lady Catherine and the elderly sourpuss Mrs. Graves to join their initially less than merry band.
Lottie, who narrates the show, is just as perky as can be, with enthusiasm to spare, played by Vanda Doyle who seems to have been born just to play this part.
Rose is played by Amy Rucci whose husband Brian Rucci plays her stage husband Frederick Arnott, a famous novelist who uses a female pen name to assuage his conscience for writing such scandalous stories. Actually, he doesn’t seem troubled about his novels, but his rigid wife is not too pleased.
Lottie has a drip of a husband in the solicitor Mellersh, played with precision by Dana T. Rucci. Lottie says her husband says the her “mind is like a hummingbird — always fluttering about but seldom lands.”
The lovely Karen Balaska plays Lady Catherine Bramble with just the right amount of ennui and world-weariness.
Anna Marie Johansen comes in like a lion as Mrs. Graves, swinging her walking stick like a weapon, and cracking walnuts within an inch of their lives.
Rounding out the cast is the easy-going artistic landlord Antony Wilding, played by Joshua Guenter, and the expressive Italian housemaid Costanza, played by the amusing Karen Sidel.
The first act is all grays and dark colors, with a fantastical surrealistic London backdrop designed and painted by the talented Christopher Berrien. It is really terrific.
While all the characters are polished and posh, and their English accents for the most part are spot-on, the real star of this show is the fabulous set, designed by Konrad Rogowski, who truly outdid himself, along with his 37-member crew.
From the dreary, stormy England in Act I the set magically transforms in Act II into a glorious garden villa, complete with wisteria, that is theatrically unveiled to accentuate the glorious transformation.
Kudos too to the fine sound and light work, with sound designed by director Dustin Sleight and light design by Jerry Zalewski, and crew, who do an amazing job timing the numerous lightening and thunder sequences in Act I, making them extremely realistic.
If you find that a trip to an Italian villa for a month is just not in your budget this year, do the next best thing this weekend and take a trip to Mapleton Hall in Suffield to see “Enchanted April.”

ENCHANTED APRIL

3½ Stars
Location: Mapleton Hall, 1305 Mapleton Ave. Suffield.
Production: Written by Matthew Barber from the novel by Elizabeth von Arnim. Direction and sound design by Dustin Sleight. Stage manager Dorrie Mitchell. Technical direction and lighting design by Jerry Zalewski. Set design by Konrad Rogowski. Costume design by Dawn McKay and Rebecca Murray.
Running time: 2 hours, plus a 15-minute intermission.
Show Times: Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. through May 22.
Tickets: $17, $15 for seniors and students. Call 800-289-6148 or visit their website at www.suffieldplayers.org.
ACTOR…CHARACTER
Vanda Doyle … Lotty Wilton
Amy Rucci … Rose Arnott
Dana T. Ring … Mellersh Wilton
Brian Rucci … Frederick Arnott
Karen Balaska … Lady Caroline Bramble
Anna Marie Johansen … Mrs. Graves
Joshua Guenter … Antony Wilding
Karen Sidel … Costanza