In 1918, a certain class of British women had only recently been given the right to vote. Women were continuing a long journey towards equality that continues to this day. A few years later, British novelist Elizabeth von Arnim was spending some time in a 15th-century castle in Italy when she wrote The Enchanted April. The novel concerns a group of women who leave the dreary confines of England to take holiday in Italy. They are all reasonably wealthy. They all belong to the same women’s club, though they have never specifically spoken to each other. They are all struggling through unhappy marriages in an era when mainstream society didn’t allow for women to do much of anything outside the home. The four women in question come to find companionship, hope and love in the idyllic surroundings of an estate in Italy.
The novel had been adapted for drama on a few different occasions, most recently in 2003 in a Broadway play written by Matthew Barber. This week that play will be staged in Menomonee Falls as the Falls Patio Players present the drama Feb. 3 - 12. For ticket reservations and more, visit Falls Patio Players online.
