Susan Granger’s review of “Enchanted April” (Belasco Theater – 2003 season)
Why do you go to theater? Perhaps to escape from your ordinary daily life into an ephemeral world of blissful delight? That’s what you’ll find in this sweetly nostalgic romantic comedy.
It’s the story of two dowdy, middle-class, melancholy London matrons who decide to rent a villa in Tuscany for a vacation from their husbands and their dreary marriages. In a bravura performance, Jane Atkinson – as Lotty Wilson, the wife of a pompous lawyer (Michael Cumpsty) – propels the action as she spies an advertisement for the villa in the Times and impulsively recruits Rose Arnott (Molly Ringwald), a woman she barely knows except in church. Rose is unhappily married to a frustrated poet (Daniel Gerroll) who has found fame and fortune writing romantic novels under a pseudonym. In turn, they find two other virtual strangers with whom to split expenses: Lady Caroline Bramble (Dagmara Dominczyk), a feckless socialite, and Mrs. Graves (Elizabeth Ashley), a domineering, judgmental widow. And, of course, there’s the villa’s handsome owner (Michael Hayden) and his Italian-speaking housekeeper (Patricia Conolly).
The first act exposition takes place in rainy London, while the whimsically comical second act blossoms in sun-drenched Tuscany. Credit Michael Wilson’s staging, Tony Straiges’ sets, Rui Rita’s lighting, Jess Goldstein’s costumes and John Gromada’s original music. Unabashedly sentimental, “Enchanted April” was written by Matthew Barber, adapted from Peter Barnes’ screenplay for the 1992 film which, in turn, was inspired by Elizabeth von Arnim’s 1922 novel. Despite its stylized, formulaic, sex farce plot and seemingly off-kilter casting, it’s bewitching and beguiling, particularly for a middle-aged audience upon whose heartstrings it tugs.