WICA Show Information

about ENCHANTED APRIL

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"For 'Those Who Appreciate Wisteria and Sunshine. . .'
Were it only that some enchantment would step in for us all, to change what we have into what we wish for. To bridge the awkward gap between all of our many befores and afters. Because, for every after found, a before must be lost. And loss is, by nature, an unbalancing thing."

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Are you aching for that first breath of fresh, spring air after our relentless, gloomy winter? Have you ever bathed yourself in the warm, delicious glow of the sun as it peeks through the clouds on a crisp, April day? New, green buds are forming on the delicate vines and the tender blooms of flowers begin to burst forth a sweet and subtle scent . . . awakening hope and the promise of renewal, as the world wakes to life once again.

There's a similar joy in Enchanted April. Playwright Matthew Barber's 2003 stage adaptation of Elizabeth von Arnim's 1922 novel presents the radiating life and warmth of the sun as it spills over the terraces of an Italian villa, offering a respite to four Englishwomen who have come to escape the dreariness of England only a few short years following the devastation and loss of World War I. In this heartwarming story, Lotty, the neglected wife of a humorless and patronizing solicitor, sees a newspaper ad offering an Italian castle for the month of April. She immediately sets about renting it, behind her husband's back, and finds the three women in England least likely to be compatible with each other to share the expense and the adventure with her. All four of the women yearn to escape the boredom and joylessness of their lives, and to find healing and restoration in the sunshine and warm sea breezes of the Italian Riviera.

The women find even more than they hoped for. As they bask in the glory of their surroundings, the ice around their hearts begins to thaw, vulnerabilities are cast aside, relationships are created or mended and husbands arrive just in time to participate in the transformation.

"Enchanted April" has seen worldwide popularity and success since the first printing of Von Arnim's novel in 1922. That year alone, the novel went through an extraordinary 20 reprints, and saw film and stage adaptations as early as 1925. The first adaptation ran on Broadway in 1925, and was followed by a second film in 1935, for RKO Radio Films. In 1992, Mike Newell directed an immensely successful film starring Josie Lawrence, Miranda Richardson, Joan Plowright and Polly Walker. Matthew Barber's adaptation was produced on Broadway in 2003, earning Tony Award nominations for Best Play and Best Actress (Jayne Atkinson).

Whether you hunger for a little excitement, renewal or just need to leave the past behind, come join "those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine. . ."

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Matthew Barber (Playwright) is a native of Los Angeles. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in English and worked in the San Francisco area doing publicity and marketing for a number of theatres. He also wrote as the Arts Editor for the San Francisco Independent before returning to Los Angeles. Enchanted April is Mr. Barber’s first play.

Elizabeth von Arnim (Novelist) was born August 31, 1866 and died February 9, 1941. She was a British novelist and, through marriage, a member of the German nobility.

Born Mary Annette Beauchamp in Sydney , Australia , she was raised in England and in 1891 married Count Henning August von Arnim, a Prussian aristocrat, and the great-great-great-grandson of King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia . By this marriage she became known as Elizabeth Gräfin von Arnim.

She had met von Arnim during an Italian tour with her father. They married in London but lived in Berlin and eventually moved to the countryside where, in Nassenheide, Pomerania , the von Arnims had their family estate. The couple had five children, four daughters and a son. The children's tutors at Nassenheide included E. M. Forster and Hugh Walpole.

In 1898 she started her literary career by publishing Elizabeth and Her German Garden, a semi-autobiographical novel about a rural idyll published anonymously and, as it turned out to be highly successful, reprinted 21 times within the first year. Von Arnim wrote another 20 books, which were all published "By the author of Elizabeth and Her German Garden".

Count von Arnim died in 1910, and in 1916 Elizabeth married John Francis Stanley Russell, 2nd Earl Russell, Bertrand Russell's elder brother. The marriage ended in disaster, with Elizabeth escaping to the United States and the couple finally agreeing, in 1919, to get a divorce. She also had an affair with H. G. Wells.

She was a cousin of Katherine Mansfield (whose real name was Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp).

Elizabeth von Arnim spent her old age in London , Switzerland , and on the French Riviera. When World War II broke out she permanently took up residence in the United States , where she died in 1941, aged 74.

Bibliography (incomplete)

Elizabeth and Her German Garden (1898)
The Solitary Summer (1899)
Fräulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther (1907)
The Caravaners (1909)
Christine (1917) (written under the pseudonym Alice Cholmondeley)
Christopher and Columbus (1919)
Vera (1921)
The Enchanted April (1922)
All the Dogs of My Life (autobiography, 1936)

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