Cora, Ida, Aaronetta and Esther are four senior sisters, living close to one another. Aaronetta is the only unmarried sister, and she lives with Cora and her husband Theodore (Thor). Homer, son of Ida and Carl, is on a trip back home, bringing his fiancee (?!) Myrtle, after a prolonged courtship. Myrtle is sweet as blueberry pie, but Homer’s feelings about marriage are a bit ambivalent (to be kind). All his aunts and uncles are hoping that Homer’s visit, accompanied by Myrtle, signals a decision. Carl is experiencing what we might call a “midlife crisis”. Only worse. He’s questioning decisions he made in hindsight, sometimes manifesting in fits and manic episodes. Esther lives down the street with her brilliant, misanthropic husband, David. He has forbidden Esther to hobnob with her sisters and their husbands, common folk that they are.
Written by Paul Olson, Mornings at Seven belongs to America’s theatre canon. It premiered on Broadway in 1939, and had revivals in 1980, and 2002. Its productions included such accomplished actors as: Maureen O’Sullivan, Estelle Parsons, Nancy Marchand, Dorothy Gish, Frances Sternhagen, Piper Laurie, Christopher Lloyd and Buck Henry. The 1980 production won numerous Tonys and Drama Desk Awards.
There was a time, I believe, when we weren’t quite so obsessed with labeling plays as either comedy or drama. Mornings at Seven would seem to be comedy by way of melodrama. Each character has their own quirks and eccentricities, and even the costumes (to a degree) seem to bear that out. The women are strong, or, at least, more decisive and focused than their spouses. Their dilemmas and painful emotions are genuine, though this isn’t altogether clear at the outset.
I cannot address the changes in attitude that span the 1930’s to the early turn of the 21st Century. Mr. Olson would seem to linger dangerously close to quaintness, before disabusing us of those assumptions. This isn’t unusual (though it might have been in 1939) but we can find the same strategy in other plays such as: Butterflies are Free, The Fantasticks, and The Skin of Our Teeth. Whether endemic to the content or this particular production, there seemed to be a kind of malaise and confusion informing the piece. I think it was smart to set Mornings at Seven in the past. What might have seemed normal in the 1930’s could seem disingenuous today. There were times I wasn’t sure whether we were supposed to be amused or saddened. All this being said, Mornings at Seven is graced by a diligent cast, and a knack for the nostalgic.
Rover Dramawerks presents: Mornings at Seven, playing August 29th-September 14th, 2019. 221 W. Parker Rd., Suite 580, Plano 75023. www.roverdramawerks.com. (972) 849-0358