I can hardly begin to describe the story, as it simply must be seen in person to be fully grasped.  Its one of these very clever scripts where everything is not as it seems.  While the audience can easily follow what is really happening, the characters in the story most certainly cannot, and in many ways, this reminded me of a Shakespeare story.  Louisa, the daughter of a once-wealthy family is due to be married to a groom she has never met, as arranged by their parents and against her own wishes.  The groom-to-be himself, the Count Von Altenburg is, well, quite a handful.  He and his servant Osmar arrive in Louisa’s town and run into an old friend, the handsome and rebellious Hermann Von Starkenfaust. The three young men have no idea that a bizarre course of events lies in front of them, or how all their plans will go wrong at just about every turn, causing tremendous confusion and commotion at the castle of Louisa’s family.  They also have no idea that Louisa’s family includes some very colorful and amusing characters too, and it all makes for a great play.

Adelaide Leroy stars as Louisa, and very skillfully portrayed many different emotions and reactions in some very strange situations.  I loved her polished performance!  She delivered every line with the right amount of confusion, anger, worry or bemusement on her face, and espoused some deep feminist philosophy in an entertaining way.  Keenan Uriu was also impressive as Hermann, who unwittingly finds himself in the midst of more chaos and confusion than he could have imagined.  Strong performances were also contributed by Sam Magley as Osmar, Tyler Hicks as Louisa’s exasperated dad, the Baron Von Landkurz, and Taylor Voje as her pushy and worrisome aunt Ermingarde.

Two of my favorite characters in this play were the other aunt, Romilda, and Otto, the Count Von Altenburg who was the originally intended fiancé.  Becca Morgan played Romilda, a slightly nutty, very witty, middle-aged busy body who writes horror novels and fancies herself as a spiritual medium prone to visions and premonitions.  Morgan’s deadpan delivery of some of the shows most outrageous lines made her a scene stealer whenever her character was on stage.  Gavin Dunne-Marble played Otto, one of the most arrogant, condescending, pompous characters I’ve ever seen.  He had fantastic stage presence and awareness of his character, as well as great comic timing.

I picked out some excellent performances from cast members with small roles too.  I loved Minh Button as the owner of the town’s tavern, trying to respond to Otto’s demands for service.  I liked Jake Segner’s funny portrayal of the nervous and overly-talkative Cousin Adelric.  And Eric Bayne was excellent as Karl, a testosterone-laden tavern customer who decides not to put up with Otto’s posturing.

All the technical elements in this show came together extremely well.  Lighting cues, sound effects, and scene changes were all seamless.  The sets and the stage, though small, were decorated very artistically in each scene.  And a great deal of effort was put into the choreographing of a sword fighting scene between Otto and Karl; it was a long and exciting fight all over the tavern with lots of metal clanking and tangible tension between the two!

I congratulate director Paula Antonevich for taking the fledgling drama department at EHS and extracting such an exciting, amusing and artistic performance from her cast.  “The Spectre Bridegroom” was definitely worth seeing, and I encourage anyone who enjoys plays to go and see this excellent production!"

 ForeWord Reviews By John Michael Senger Book Review November 2010 

The Nebraska Dispatches 

Christopher Cartmill, successful New York playwright, director, and actor, disregarded Thomas Wolfe’s famous advice that “You can’t go home again,” and returned to his home in Nebraska to research and write a play. His subject was Chief Standing Bear, a Ponca Indian who in 1879 sued the United States government and won. The turmoil that enveloped Cartmill and renewed his bond with home, in the broadest meaning of that word, is gracefully retold in The Nebraska Dispatches. 

Standing Bear was chief of the Ponca Indians living along the Niobrara River in Northern Nebraska in the mid 1800s, when the US government moved many of the Indian tribes to the Oklahoma territory. Standing Bear’s son died in Oklahoma, having first requested burial in Nebraska with his ancestors. To honor his son’s request, Standing Bear returned to Nebraska, where he was arrested and incarcerated. He declared he was being held illegally, and sued the US government for a writ of habeas corpus. The Court agreed with the chief and he was freed to quietly live out his life in Nebraska. 

The Nebraska Dispatches is far more than just the story of Standing Bear, although that alone would make for an interesting tale. Cartmill also tells his own story, of his return to his roots and reconciliation with place and history. The story’s pace and drama builds as Cartmill meets the people of Nebraska and hears their stories. 

Flowing throughout is the undercurrent of anger and bitterness that irresolutely defines the relationship between the Plains Indians and their white neighbors. Cartmill is forced to confront the idea that stories matter. History is not abstract, but about actual people and events that have consequences yet today. As Susan Cloud Horse, an Omaha Indian, tells him: “First of all, I’m going to tell you this again: by what you’re doing you’re stirring up five hundred years of anger, pain, and shame.” 2 | P a g e 

The Nebraska Dispatches refrains from bravado or overstatement; nevertheless, it is an intense and dynamic book. Cartmill is expert at relating his own story and just enough information about the Poncas, Standing Bear, and other Plains Indians. He intertwines these sagas to make them part of a larger story of America and how Americans connect to home. In the end, Cartmill proves Wolfe wrong. Not only can one go home again, but there can be much to be learned from the experience. (November) John Michael Senger 

Nebraska Dispatches - University of Nebraska Press

PRAISE

“Delightfully intimate yet soaringly ambitious, Christopher Cartmill’s lovely and lovingly told memoir of his journey through personal and national history is a fascinating meditation on the infinite meanings of home. This is a terrific nonfiction debut from a terrifically gifted writer.”—Adam Langer, author ofEllington Boulevard and My Father’s Bonus March

“It is not as a disinterested witness that Christopher Cartmill embarked on this extraordinary exploration, but as a passionate participant, often literally risking body and soul, with a clear eye, a probing intellect, and a compassionate and fearless heart. The result is a fascinating, and very moving, chronicle of his journey.”—Eva Rubinstein, actress and internationally acclaimed photographer

“The Nebraska Dispatches sensitively chronicles a time when paths crossed—when the past intertwined with the present and remade a future.”—Renee Sans Souci, Umonhon (Omaha) poet

“Cartmill writes with such power and beauty. The Nebraska Dispatchesresonated with me personally. Even though our experiences are of course different in the discovery journey that led to our respective projects . . . there are many deep and striking resonances.”—Jocelyn McKinnon, lecturer at The University of Newcastle, Australia, and creator of the performance piece,Listening: Indigenous Stories from the Central Coast

Praise for Christopher Cartmill’s play Home Land, on which this book is based:
“This is a mature, sophisticated play. Like rainwater in the Nebraska Sandhills, the play’s haunting truths seep into the cracks where life begins and ends. And it is here where those hard truths are delivered with whispers—not megaphones—which of course make them resonate even louder.”—Joe Starita, author of I Am a Man

A description of the production by Shaun B. Wilson --

"This past Friday I had the opportunity to see Barbara Hammond's new play "Beyond the Pale" at St. Peter's Rectory in Chelsea, part of the 1st Irish 2009 Theatre Festival in NY. Almost as soon as the play began, I realized that I had been led astray. This was not a play. This was one of those dreams that feels like a film or a palpably familiar trip to a place you've never been. This was an invited invasion into the lives of others. This was, quite simply, an experience. The play took place in an Irish Manor house in Northern Ireland and began in the back garden. We, the audience, found our places among the walkways and shrubs as the play began and moved with the cast through the first floor of the manor throughout the course of the play. We were no longer audience members, but a fog moving through the countryside of Ireland, gently oppressing the manor's inhabitants. In what I feel is a stroke of genius, the convention of the audience's close proximity to the cast mirrored the railing against a silent heaven that dwelt in the play. The three main characters, Siobhan, Terry, and Declan seemed as if they were trying to escape from or engage with some invisible force that hemmed them in, watched them, and never spoke. This convention also left no room for the actors to be false or distracted, or for the dialogue to be tricked up and stiff as we were no less than three feet away from them at all times. The entire creative team rose to the challenge quite successfully. It was a beautiful whisper of a play, simple and true."

For a slide show of the event check out the home page at www.barbarahammond.com