Elgin drama explores mother-daughter relationships
The exotic word "eleemosynary" plays two roles in the title of the Independent Players' next live drama production.
It's a spelling bee word that one of the play's three characters - a precocious teenage girl - tackles as she works to win a national spelling bee. But it also tells something about the shifting, tense relationship between that girl, her absent mother and her hippie-ish grandmother.
"Eleemosynary," written by Minnesota playwright Lee Blessing, will be presented by the Elgin-based theater company March 3-18 at the Elgin Art Showcase.
The play's director, Larry Boller, said it's not true that the cast spent the first half of their rehearsals just learning to pronounce "eleemosynary." ("Webster's New World College Dictionary" advises us to say either "el-i-mahs'-uh-ner-ee" or "el-ee-uh-mahs'-uh-ner-ee," while adding that the word is "old-fashioned.")
"The word is derived from the Greek word for alms, and in English it's defined as 'charitable,'" said Don Haefliger, the IP's artistic director. "The play examines the subtle and often perilous relationship between three remarkable women - a teenage girl, her mother and her grandmother."
Haefliger said the grandmother, Dorothea, is a fiercely independent bohemian eccentric. Her granddaughter Echo is a bright and sensitive spelling-bee contestant. In between them, Artie (short for Artemis) - Dorothea's daughter and Echo's mother - has fled from the domination of her own mother, leaving Dorothea to take care of the teen.
As the play begins, Dorothea has suffered a stroke, forcing Echo to re-establish communication with the missing Artie. Boller said the play has very few props and a minimal set, and much of it takes place as the characters speak over the telephone.
Boller, an Elginite who taught English alongside Haefliger at St. Edward Central Catholic High School in Elgin before they retired, has directed 16 previous IP productions and acted in 11 others.
Sarah Bartley, who recently moved to Chicago from Colorado, plays young Echo. Wheaton resident Lisa Schmela, another newcomer to the Independent Players, plays Artie. Dorothea is portrayed by Boller's wife, Marge Uhlarik-Boller, who has acted in eight previous IP productions.
Uhlarik-Boller also is the managing director of Steel Beam Theatre in St. Charles.
"The three women are all extremely smart and articulate," Haefliger said. "Yet they can't speak to each other. As the play goes on, they become emotionally charitable - eleemosynary - to the point where they talk to each other and are concerned about each other's feelings again."
"I have wanted IP to do this play for years," said Boller. "Lee Blessing, the playwright, was hot a while back, and I had seen my wife perform in 'Eleemosynary' years ago, maybe at Triton College.
"It's an interesting story about family dynamics," Boller said. "Dorothea says that we all try to be what our daughters need but we never come close. There are always new mistakes to be made along the way, and each generation grows up in a different situation."
"The three women ultimately realize that words have power to help achieve control of one's life, but words fail to replace feelings," Haefliger said.
The story is especially relevant to today's society, Haefliger said.
"I know a lot of grandmothers who take care of their grandchildren during the week."
Haefliger said Blessing is best known for his play "A Walk in the Woods," which was nominated for both a Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize.
Located in downtown Elgin's Professional Building, "the Elgin Art Showcase is a good location for groups that don't need space for hundreds of audience members," Haefliger said. "We usually draw maybe 60 people a night."
Haefliger said IP plans to do two more plays during 2017, during which it will celebrate its 40th anniversary.
"We want a mixture of types of plays, so it's not just all serious drama," he said.
In May the group will perform Noel Coward's classic comedy "Blithe Spirit," about an author who arranges a seance that conjures up the ghost of someone he'd rather not see anymore.
In September, the IP will do "Master Class" by Terrence McNally, a drama about the late opera diva Maria Callas that includes some music.
If you go
What: "Eleemosynary," written by Lee Blessing and performed by the Independent Players
When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, March 3-4, 10-11, 17-18.
Where: Elgin Art Showcase, in the Professional Building at 164 Division St., Elgin.
Tickets: From <a href="http://independentplayers.org">independentplayers.org</a> or at the door (cash or check only). Adults $15, seniors $12, students $10.