Whether it?s the peal of bells over London celebrating the Allied victory over Rommel?s Afrika Corps, a church lady becoming warm (in more ways than one) with religious fervor, or the sensation of love?s tendrils encircling a young woman?s heart for the first time, the characters in C.P. Taylor?s And A Nightingale Sang express the moment in that whimsically understated English way:
“I had a funny feeling.”
It?s an appropriate phrase, as there’s much that is funny and full of feeling in this dramedy, now playing at the Everyman Theatre, about the working-class Stott family trying to survive the Blitz ? and each other. The setting is nicely done, with background screens designed by Milagros Ponce de Leon using period postcards to create a panoramic view of bombed-out Newcastle-on-Tyne.
Beth Hylton portrays Helen Stott, a.k.a. “The Cripple,” who despite her “bum ankle” is anything but ? in most families; shed be called “the practical one.” Helen steps in and out of the play, speaking about the events transpiring on stage, making them a collection of her memories, a live-action scrapbook that the audience is permitted to see.
Humor abounds in this play that is very reminiscent of the 1987 film, “Hope and Glory,” another exploration of a British family making do during WWII. Faced with Eric (Ian Lockhart)?s marriage proposal, Joyce Stott (Megan Anderson), “The Babe in the Woods,” flip-flops faster than John Kerry before consenting while prostrate during anair raid. The sort of woman who?d see the Virgin Mary in her grilled cheese sandwich, Peggy (Rosemary Knower) is old school Catholicism made flesh, while husband George (Jim Zidar) is a hulking English bulldog who plays show tunes on the piano when he isn?t trying to convert everyone to Communism.
Andie (Stan Weiman), “The Old Soldier,” adds a nice dash of comic surrealism, with statements like “Gratitude? That?s not people. People aren’t human beings, and that?s where you go wrong.”
One thing people aren?t is predictable, as Helen learns as she falls for Norman (Clinton Brandhagen), “The Tailor’s Dummy.” Their romance is textbook bittersweet, and their moments on stage kept the audience riveted.
There’s no major message here, other than that people are people ? they fall in and out of love, pray, commit adultery, eat Spam sandwiches and outfit beloved pets with gas masks ? even as the bombs rain down.
IF YOU GO
And A Nightingale Sang
» Venue: Everyman Theatre, 1727 N. Charles St., Baltimore
» When: Wednesdays through Sundays through April 29
» Tickets: $18 to $30
» More info: 410-752-2208,
www.everymantheatre.org
