In the current issue of the website London, 28-year-old British playwright Barney Norris states, “I absolutely don’t think there is an afterlife, or a deity, or a God or whatever word you’d use. I’m interested in two things: the numinous qualities in humanity — the inner light of people — and also the world.”
Mr. Norris’s play Visitors, now appearing at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse, embodies this statement by exploring the frailties and blessedness of four characters struggling with changes inside themselves and in the world in which they live.
The play is directed by M.J. Bruder Munafo and is in previews this weekend. Opening night is Tuesday, Sept. 29, marking the fifth and final production of the playhouse’s summer 2015 season. This is the first American production of Visitors, which has delighted British audiences and critics and has won numerous awards since it opened in 2011.
Set in a humble farmhouse on the Salisbury Plain, the performance features film and Broadway actress Charlotte Booker in the conflicted role of Edie, a beautiful and graceful woman of a certain age, whose memory and imagination have begun to play tricks on her. That is not to say she has sacrificed any of her lyrical visions or her attachments to her husband, her troubled son and her rustic, at times mystical, world.
Edie’s mental aberrancy allows a poetic clairvoyance to her insights of those she loves and to the universe in general. She charms and befuddles her beleaguered husband Arthur, played by David Bennett Stephens, who still adores her after 40 years of marriage. But Arthur sees that Edie, like the traditional regional farming culture plied by generations of his ancestors, is fading fast. The woman he loved and the trade he pursued, as well as his own physical and mental strength to carry on, are all diminishing.
Their married son Stephen, played by Ryan Winkles, opted out of farming 20 years ago to sell insurance in the city. Now that Edie’s health is deteriorating, he has hired Kate, a young, blue-pigtailed and spiritually restless university graduate, to help with the caregiving. Kate, played by Ella Dershowitz, soon finds herself emotionally attached to the older couple but romantically pursued by the insecure Stephen.
Though prospects for these characters are dwindling — by illness or by their own mistakes — somehow dignity and blessedness abound in their lives. All are visitors to a shared but disappearing illusion with a nourishing and sustaining fabric of love.
After a sneak preview of a full-length rehearsal, Ms. Bruder Munafo offered, “I am grateful that Joann Green Breuer [playhouse artistic associate] discovered Visitors after its hugely successful premiere in London. When Joann was unable to direct the playhouse production, she asked me to consider stepping in and I was happy to do so.”
The director, the actors and the technical staff have all brought their hearts and subtle skills to this production of a remarkable play about a life-long love story with a huge and very numinous heart.
Previews of Visitors are 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 25 and 26. Opening night with a gala reception is 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29. The show runs through Oct. 10. Tickets can be purchased at vineyardplayhouse.org or the box office: 508-696-6300. Rush tickets for $25 are available at every performance.
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