New Voices Series: "Mourning View"
Press Release
Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative (CPI) and Cincinnati Arts Association continue the New Voices Series of staged readings by local actors, with a transformation of a one-act into a full-length play.
In "Mourning View," by Denise Stoner-Barone, four sisters — one of whom hasn't been seen by the family for the past ten years-assemble for a final viewing of their mother. As the sisters grieve, old wounds are re-opened, jealousies revealed, and a level of redemption occurs.
Tom Fox directs.
WHAT: "MOURNING VIEW" by Denise Stoner-Barone - staged-reading play
WHERE: The Aronoff Center for the Arts, Fifth Third Bank Theater.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 16
COST: $6; $3-students 513-621-2787, or online at www.cincinnatiArts.org.
MORE INFO: 513-241-5154 or visit www.cinciplaywrights.org
About the playwright:
Denise Stoner-Barone's first play, "A Moomoir," received a staged reading as part of a CPI developmental workshop at the Contemporary Arts Center in 2005. "A Licorice-Dipped Lexapro," a ten-minute play, was part of a 2005 fundraising campaign. The one-act "Mourning View," directed by Jane Goetzman, was presented at the Aronoff, Fifth Third Bank Theater in 2006. Stoner-Barone's novel "Fantasy Daze" has been recently published under the pen name of Gwen Williams, and is available through Liquid Silver Books.
"MOURNING VIEW" - Part of CPI's New Voices Series.
Act One of "Mourning View" begins in the present. Melanie arrives at the Randolph Brothers Funeral Home to view her mother's body and to pay her last respects. Her sisters, first Helen and then Jenny, join her. A surprise visitor, the sisters' long estranged sister, Georgia, adds tension to the mix. Although Georgia is actually relieved to see that her mother has died, the other sisters berate her for lack of feelings. The sisters fight about Georgia's affair with Melanie's husband; Helen takes Melanie's side. Jenny is frustrated by the fact that being the youngest, she has been kept out of everything. When the sisters discover that Melanie will be inheriting Mama's entire estate, there is a conflagration of emotion. A sort of rapprochement occurs at the end of the act.
Act Two begins ten years earlier with Papa's funeral. We see the sowing of seeds of discontent and enmity; Melanie is still reeling from the fact that her own sister has had an affair with her husband. Helen is furious with Georgia. Mama, who never has understood Georgia, does further damage to the relationship with her fragile daughter. Jenny, of course, is kept out of everything. Feeling embittered, Georgia leaves early, not to return for another ten years. Although Georgia is gone, Mama proceeds to engage in a family prayer and at the same time she dispenses her blessings upon her three remaining daughters.
