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FARMINGTON – Inside the darkened Alumni Theater at the University of Maine at Farmington, the final touches are underway on an original play to be performed for the first time this week.
The actors run smoothly through the scene work until “hold” is announced. They freeze, as if suddenly stuck in a photograph, and the lighting crew sets the stage lights just so for that moment before allowing the scene to “thaw” and continue. Under the direction of Daniel Brunk, dark shades of blue become the night, square spills of bright yellow-white light represent a baby’s cradle, and a more complicated mix of greens are the dappled shade under a canopy of trees.
For everyone involved, including its award-winning playwright and director Jayne Decker, work on this never-before-staged play “Good Medicine” is a pioneering experience.
Set in a small New England town in the late 1800s, Good Medicine is the story of Old Jenny, a midwife and healer who practices traditional, holistic methods of healing and child birthing to a needy but skeptical community. Against the backdrop of modern medicine’s emergence, a new doctor settles into the community and challenges the townspeople’s fragile trust in Old Jenny’s skill and to convince them she is guilty of witchcraft.
Decker, a UMF English and theater teacher, artistic director of the Sandy River Players and director of the Emery Community Arts Center, staging her own work is a bit different than staging someone’s work.
“My heart beats a little faster and I hold my breath more,” she said watching her actors and crew work another scene change.
Last spring Decker began researching and writing this play, inspired by themes women, past and present share in common, along with the work of local obstetrician Dr. Connie Adler. Adler who practices here and for the last decade has helped develop and perform emergency obstetrical care at the Maria Luisa Ortiz Cooperative Clinic in Mulukuka, Nicaragua. She has also been involved in the establishment of the clinic’s Casa Materna, which serves women with high-risk pregnancies and provides a safe environment for the birth of the child through post-partum care.
Decker put together an ensemble cast of UMF students, faculty, alumni and community members to help develop, through a workshop process, the play Good Medicine for stage. Songs, genuine to the period and performed by cast members, were researched and suggested by musical director Dale Hill. Two of the songs are original compositions written by local musicians Seth Wegner and Hank Washburn.
The homegrown production includes alumni who were Decker’s students at UMF. One former student, Mandi Favreau, who now teaches and directs the theater program at Messalonskee High School, is performing with three of her former students who are all now attending UMF.
Good Medicine is Decker’s eighth original play. Her “Stars Falling,” a winner of the 2002 Maine Playwriting Award, “Jelly Moonshine,” and “Songbird,” a touring play about the Iraq War have been performed at UMF Alumni Theatre. “Cracked Shells,” a play about domestic violence, was commissioned by Franklin Community Health Network’s Peace in Our Families and was featured again at the 2009 Maine Women’s Studies Conference.
As artistic director for the Sandy River Players, Decker’s most recent directorial work includes the musicals “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Oliver!” and productions of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” and Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Good Medicine, sponsored by the UMF Department of Sound, Performance and Visual Inquiry, will be performed in UMF’s Alumni Theater 7:30 p.m., on Dec. 9, 10 and 11; and 2 p.m., on Dec. 12. This presentation’s content is suitable for PG-13 audiences. Admission is free, with donations gratefully accepted at the door to benefit Casa Materna.
A post-play discussion with the playwright, cast, Dr. Connie Adler and Allison Hepler, UMF professor of history, will be held immediately after the Friday, Dec. 10 performance in UMF Alumni Theater. The audience is welcome to attend.
Cast:
Old Jenny. . . . .Margaux DePue, UMF student, Sidney
Rebecca . . . . .Tiarra LaPierre, UMF student, Belgrade
Liz-Bet. . . . .Mandi Favreau, UMF alumna
Doctor Preston. . . . .Daniel Gunn, UMF professor of English
Cilla. . . . . Margaux DePue, UMF student, Sidney
Lucas. . . . .Ryan Patstone, UMF alum
William. . . . .Ian Davis, UMF student, Belgrade
Brady. . . . .Zach Fowler, UMF student, Presque Isle; and Nathan Hines, UMF alum
The Fiddler. . . . .Ellie Buckland, Mt. Blue High School student
Crew:
Director. . . . .Jayne Decker
Asst. Director. . . . .Leah Douglass, UMF student, Westbrook
Stage Manager and Make-up Design. . . . .Angela Hooper, UMF student, Albany Twp.
Costume Design. . . . .Kenny Lamb, UMF student, Scarborough
Set Design. . . . .Stacia Saniuk
Lighting Design. . . . .Daniel Brunk, UMF technical director
Music Director. . . . .Dale Hill
