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Wheaton Drama tackles issues of family, grief, loss in 'To Gillian'

Posted March 24, 2010 11:00 pm

Robert Sanchez

Sometimes when a play is made into a Hollywood film, audience members can't help but remember the big-screen adaptation when they watch a stage performance.

In the case of "To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday," Wheaton Drama is hoping to help theater goers forget the 1996 movie on Friday when its production begins a several-week run at Playhouse 111, 111 N. Hale St., Wheaton.

While Michael Brady's play about a grief-stricken husband trying to come to terms with his beloved wife's death won the 1983 Oppenheimer Award for best play, the film version starring Michelle Pfeiffer was widely panned by critics.

"If you saw the movie and did not like it, do not let that stop you from coming to see this show," said Marc Ludena, who is directing the Wheaton Drama production. "Because it is not like the movie at all."

In fact, Ludena said, a selection committee picked the play to be a part of Wheaton Drama's 2009-10 season because of its themes of family ties and dealing with loss.

"It's very heartwarming, but it's also very funny at times," said Ludena, a North Aurora resident. "It's a script that resonates with people."

The play picks up two years after Gillian's death - on the eve of what would have been her 37th birthday. Her husband, David, has become withdrawn from his family and has taken an early retirement from teaching. Concerned about his disconnection from life, David's family members intervene over the course of a summer weekend.

"They feel that he's got a lot of life left and that he's throwing it away," Ludena said. "So they all try to work together to push him forward."

In a twist, one person trying to help David move on is Gillian herself.

"She's not exactly a memory," Ludena said. "She's not exactly a figment of David's imagination, but I wouldn't classify her as a ghost either. It's almost as if she is conjured by his longing."

Playing the role of Gillian is a "very interesting" opportunity for actress Lisa Schmela.

"We're approaching her as an actual person appearing to the people remembering her," said Schmela, a Wheaton resident. "So I can still be Gillian - not a ghost or how somebody thinks she used to be."

It's one of several aspects of the script that excited Schmela about the play. Another includes the positive message about people coming together after a loss.

"No matter what happens, you have people around you to get you through any situation," Schmela said. "And you need to be there for other people."

So while there are some very sad moments in the show, Ludena said the goal is to have audience members leave the theater with "an overriding sense of hope."

"You experience the highs and lows," he said. "And if I've done my job right, you leave with the high."

From director Marc Lundena

"Whether or not you enjoyed the 1996 film version of "To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday," I encourage you to come and see our version of the play.

"Fans of the movie will see the same basic storyline - perhaps simpler and more tightly focused - played out in a more intimate setting. Those who disliked the film will understand why Michael Brady's stage script was awarded the Oppenheimer Award for Best Play in 1983. With his film adaptation, scribe David E. Kelley intended to make work for the screen a script that was written for the stage.

"Theater is a different sort of storytelling than film. Generally, movies rely on a certain type of realism, and the audience requires it to follow those conventions.

"The very nature of plays asks an audience to suspend disbelief in a way that film never does, and because of that, I believe that plays have more freedom to break conventional storytelling rules. I also believe the premise of this play just works better on stage than on film.

"One of the most challenging aspects of directing "To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday" is how to treat the titular character. Only her widower, David sees her, but she isn't a figment of his imagination. She isn't simply a memory, and she isn't a ghost. However, she exhibits characteristics of all of these, and that makes Gillian a unique character.

"While she is "conjured" as an artifact of her husband's grief, love and memory, she exists as a complete character and not simply as a plot device. However it is that she arrives on the beach, it's more interesting to me if she is as capable of thinking, feeling, growing and changing. I hope that this will be just as interesting to our audiences.

"The play takes place at a crucial time for David. It's the second anniversary of Gillian's death. It also would have been her 37th birthday. We learn that one year prior, David had a rough time, and since then, he's managed to find a way to survive, if not to live. That's not good enough for his loved ones, so each finds a way show him, like the waves that return endlessly to the beach, that life goes on.

"Best friend Paul approaches David with humor and intellect. Sister-in-law Esther tries to give him a psychological kick in the pants. Daughter Rachel demonstrates that although she's been taking care of David since her mother's death, she needs to be taken care of, too.

"Rachel's best friend, Cindy, is a reminder to David of what it means to be a teacher and what constitutes a healthy relationship. A female friend from the past, Kevin, teaches David something about coping with loss.

"In reconnecting with him, she helps relight the fire of romance. Even Gillian helps, phantasm or figment that she may be, by reminding David of the truth of their relationship and urging him to live.

"I love to watch a group of actors come together to tell a story, and do it in a way that is compelling and touches your emotions.

"While film can affect you similarly, theater has an immediacy, a sense of "nowness" that is impossible to recreate through the separation of a camera lens. "To Gillian ..." is a different experience on stage than it is on screen. Even if you aren't familiar with the movie, you'll still enjoy a touching, funny and uplifting night at the theater."

Craig Witt plays David and Lisa Schmela portrays Gillian in Wheaton Drama's production of "To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday." Steven Merkel

If you go

What: "To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday," staged by Wheaton Drama

When: 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, March 26 to April 17; 3 p.m. Sundays, March 28, April 11 and April 18; No show Easter Sunday

Where: Playhouse 111, 111 N. Hale St., Wheaton

Tickets: $16; $13 Thursdays

Info: (630) 260-1820 or <a href="http://wheatondrama.org" target="new">wheatondrama.org</a>

The cast

Kevin: Traci A. Cidlik

Esther: Jeni Dees

Rachel: Katie Kanturek

Cindy: Erica Pezza

Paul: Ish Rios

Gillian: Lisa Schmela

David: Craig Witt

Director: Marc Ludena

Assistant director: Jo-Ann Ledger

Production managers: Mary Beth deBolt and Dawn Herbst

Stage manager: Debbie Trueblood

Set design and construction: Ben Aylesworth

Set decoration: Keith deBolt

Costumes: Diana Dignan

Web site: Melissa Heischberg

Video: Andy Kanturek

Publicity: Jo-Ann Ledger

Set design and graphic design: Marc Ludena

Sound design: Steven Merkel

Properties and assistant stage manager: Genevieve Pastore

Tickets: Becky Poole

Programme: Kate Quan

Hair and make-up: Melissa Sokasits

Lighting design: Jim Van De Velde

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