Review: THE COVER OF LIFE at The Guild Hall Players

The Cover of Life, by R.T. Robinson, is based on his family’s true story about three women and their struggle for self-worth in rural Louisiana in 1943. Tood, Weetsie and Sybill each married a Cliffert brother who are engaged in World War II. A local reporter with the Louisiana Times Picayune writes story about these young wives, which piques the interest of Life Magazine’s Henry Luce. Luce assigns Kate Miller to the story, who has been covering the war in Europe. Kate spends a week with the Cliffert women to cover their life while the men are away, and unexpectedly explores the reality of the women as they struggle to find their own identity.  The piece is so well written, with complex characters working through intricate relationships, delicious subtext, prose filled with images and powerful emotions, strong rhythm, and subtle humor.

The Cover of Life was first presented by the American Stage Company, and further developed at the Hartford Stage Company. It made its Off Broadway premier at the American Place Theatre in 1994. Director John Dalton White first read this script in 2006, and had wanted to direct it for the last twenty years! I am so pleased he was finally able to give us this gorgeous gift.

The Cover of Life premiered off-Broadway at the American Place Theatre on October 11, 1994. I was so fortunate to see it presented by the Guild Hall Players at the St. James Episcopal Church. Such a shame it only ran for one weekend, as it was a sublime offering with some of the best actresses in Wichita. It was perfectly cast, beautifully staged, and sensitively directed by John Dalton-White. The design team was outstanding, creating a genteel, deep south world that tried to withstand the onslaught of a brutal modern era. All the gorgeous period costumes were designed and constructed by Greg Dalton-White, and among my favorites were small and often overlooked details such as the comprehensive collection of vintage pocketbooks. Set Designer Bob Lancaster gave us a selectively realistic set, using the difficult space well to create the illusion of the many areas of the Cliffert home including a veranda and a nice long breezeway. Louise Brinegar and Gene Carr’s unique hand for properties completes the picture, as they always manage to find the perfect item for any given time period. Lighting Design by Stan Longhofer was skillfully  done. The difficult space was not only evenly illuminated, but he succeeds in creating loads of atmosphere in the well defined acting areas.  Kirk Longhofer’s Sound Design is exemplary and suits the wide ranging emotion needed in this play, taking us on the women’s journey, utilizing spirited bluegrass, Big Band, and thoughtful introspective pieces.

The Cover of Life is a nutritionally dense offering. I had never heard of this play, and didn’t have the chance to read it or do any prior research. My expectation was another southern fried female comedy, and I was so wrong. This play is a goldmine for actresses, and John Dalton-White cast some of the best area actresses to fill some larger than life roles. Mary Tush Green played the Times Picayune reporter Addie Mae perfectly, smartly cast as an upstanding member of the community, who you might say is the professional version of the town busybody. Crystal Meek’s world weary matriarch, Aunt Ola, is so colorful and complex. Ola keeps the family in line as best she can, but as she confesses to the wives of her sons, “the men in this family…my boys got blue eyes and black hearts…it’s just after they get you…” alluding to the men’s unfaithfulness to their women, including Ola’s husband, Uncle Tom. Meek’s Ola has some of the best philosophical lines in the play. When Uncle Tom dies, Ola sits in his chair, which has the best view of their land, and says of her journey “…it’s not the miles, it’s the terrain…” “I’m tired of being somebody’s momma…love can’t change character…” She is ready for someone else to lead.

The only male in this cast is Hagan Simmons, who plays Tood’s husband Tommy. Tommy appears to Tood sometimes in flashbacks, sometimes in Tood’s fantasies, and finally in real life.  His performance is very even, lacing tenderness into a macho swagger, a perfect contrast to all the feminine energy in this cast.

We meet the three Cliffert wives arguing in front of Green’s Addie Mae, as spunky as they can be. We get to know and love them, and meet their idealized husbands in in Act 1 when the girls all write letters to their men. As the play moves on, we find out not only the best about the men, but we get to see the not so nice reality of their situations and family dynamic. We also get to see what happens when an outsider from, of all places, New York City, is brought in to learn more about the family. Vonda Newby-Schuster takes on the role of Kate Miller, the writer who is brought in to write the story of the family for Life Magazine. Vonda does an outstanding job portraying the life long New Yorker, as a laid back, take it as it comes, practical kind of interloper that never screams elite but is as chock full of life wisdom as Aunt Ola. Because there4 are no hotels in the area, Kate is forced to stay with the Cliffert family, and as a result, develops a friendship with Tood. Vonda’s Kate is the pivot point on which Tood, the youngest Cliffert wife, embarks on the exploration of a new life philosophy. Kate is full of philosophical gems as well, and her discussions with Tood lead us to women’s topics that are just as relevant today as they were during World War Two.

Weetsie, played by Katriana Kisner, who made her Guild debut with this play, may be our typical sweet southern belle in appearance, with her blond corkscrew curls, but shows her ambition with the cutthroat attitude of a Scarlett O’Hara. Kisner’s Weetsie is often the antagonist in many sisterly arguments, especially when it comes to the family business. She’s especially tart when it’s found that Sybill’s man is unfaithful - Weetsie admonishes Sybill about her behavior, lecturing her on the fine points of keeping a man because “I know what a southern boy wants.” Weetsie also has a dust up with Tood regarding the family business. Tood no longer wishes to be involved, telling Weetsie “Things change.” Weetsie replies, “Not if you don’t let them.”

Shanna Berry, who also made her Guild debut with this play, gave one of her finest performances yet as Sybill, bravely laying out a bold portrait of a woman who loved a man so deeply, only to face unfathomable rejection from him. For the time period, Sybill’s letters to her husband Johnny were sexy and full of dreaming. “…I wish this war was over and you were home…” We later find out Sybill is unable to bear children, and Johnny leaves her for a girl he’s stationed with, who is from Memphis. Throughout the play, Sybill contends to anyone who questions her sexy, untraditional ways of conducting herself and her relationship, she replies, “WE ARE MODERN!”  In a haunting monologue, Berry’s Sybill grappled with the horror of her life, and her inability to give her man the one thing she thinks he wants. Sybill ended her life with her father’s gun because, she questioned, “What’s wrong with my womanhood?”

Emily Redfield has really come into her own with her exceptional portrayal of Tood. Tood is based on Robinson’s mother, who passed in 2007. Where Weetsie wants the status quo, Tood is progressive and wants to find her own path in life, and get out from under the family thumb. We find out Tood is pregnant, and her Tommy husband appears to her in her imagination from time to time, working things out. Kudos to intimacy director Erin Urick for devising some lovely scenes between the two. Redfield delivers a beautiful monologue at the end of Act 1, when Tood allows herself to contemplate life goals, and asks “…what is wrong with my kind of dreaming?” Tood develops a friendship with Kate, and Tood realizes there are so many things she doesn’t know she doesn’t know; for example, Kate and Tood have a picnic on the hill overlooking their land. Kate tells her the Mere Rouge is French for Red Sea. Tood replies “…lived here all my life and didn’t know that…” Kate shows Tood what life can be like. Tood asks Kate so many questions - “Why don’t women stick together?” “What’s it like in NYC?” “What’s it like working at Life?” Kate replies “My boss treats me like one of the boys.” Kate helps Tood “hear herself think.” After Sybill’s suicide, Kate begs editor to pull the story, but her editor refused. Kate quits the magazine, as the aftermath of the suicide is too painful her, and takes a toll on her relationship with Tood. “Everyone is always blaming the press.”

Rounding out the evening was the excellent research done by Dona Lancaster on The Circle of Life, which was on display in the lobby.  There were pictures of the Cliffert family, an original script, and life stories and pictures of the cast as well. The display was both gorgeous and informative. A nice perk was the delicious coconut cake and lemonade served at intermission by the Director! The entire evening was so clever and well thought through. I’m so glad I didn’t miss this event, and so sad it only ran one weekend.

Up next for The Guild Hall Players? The classic, hilarious comedy You Can't Take It With You, which runs from July 24-27. General Admission tickets are $12, and Students are $10. Call 683-5686 for Reservations.

Photo Credit: Ben Blankley

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