GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE January 28, 2005

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CLUB Beck Center's revival of a Lillian Hellman

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classic reveals the evil in a child's lie

by Anthony Glassman

With the second inauguration of George W. Bush now a thing of the past, those stridently calling for "family values" and a return to the "good old days" are more in the forefront than ever before.

What they fail to realize is, in the words of Billy Joel, "The good old days weren't always good."

In those "good" old days, the very hint of two women in love could spell doom for a promising new school.

The Beck Center for the Arts in Cleveland's

town, so the girl must stay with the Tilfords overnight, giving Mary a chance to blackmail Rosalie into supporting her lie.

The two teachers, accompanied by Mrs. Tilford's nephew, confront the old woman, who eventually reveals that it was Mary who started the rumor. Mary, however, refuses to admit she lied, and forces Rosalie to corroborate her story, threatening to turn her over to the police for "borrowing" another girl's bracelet if she doesn't.

Martha and Karen threaten to file a libel suit, and Mrs. Tilford tries to tell them not to. In an odd moment, especially given the year

Mary Tilford (Heather Farr) tells her grandmother (Rhoda Rosen) a lie that destroys three lives in the Beck Center's production of Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour.

near-west suburb of Lakewood illustrates a time when a single lie by an unkind child destroys three lives with Lillian Hellman's 1934 play, The Children's Hour.

Karen Wright (Jennifer Clifford) and Martha Dobie (Kristie Lang) are two teachers running a girls' school in the 1930s. They've finally gotten the school on its feet and turning a profit, after years of sacrifice and toil.

Karen is engaged to Dr. Joe Cardin (Nicholas Koesters), and they have finally decided to tie the knot when the current term ends.

Having been friends since they were 16, Karen and Martha are inseparable, despite Martha's eccentric aunt Lily Mortar, a former actress who gives the girls at the school elocution lessons, along with dubious instruction on what is and is not "proper" for a lady. However, every Eden must have its serpent, and this one is no garden variety villain. Joe's young cousin Mary Tilford (Heather Farr) is a spoiled, mean-spirited, self-centered bully who uses deceits both petty and grand to get her way.

Karen and Martha see past her tricks but want her to either settle down and be a good girl or, failing that, leave the school. They should have been more careful in their wishing. After being punished by the teachers, Mary runs away from the school to the home of her grandmother and guardian, Amelia Tilford (Rhoda Rosen).

Amelia is not necessarily naïve to Mary's misdeeds. But she dotes on the girl, who is the only child of her favorite son, who committed suicide. Amelia has been instrumental in getting the school off the ground. She's rich and powerful and influential, after all.

Mary no more wishes to return to the school than her teachers wish to have her back. To convince her grandmother to let her stay, she concocts a story and whispers it to the old woman near the end of the first act: The two teachers are, in fact, lovers.

Mrs. Tilford gets on the phone to the mothers of the other girls, and has them get their children "out of harm's way" as soon as possible. Rosalie Wells' mother is out of

the play was written, she tells them that she really doesn't care what the two women do when they're together, as long as there are no children involved. Of course, she makes no mention by this point of her nephew's engagement to a "lesbian," but she had already advised him to leave Karen.

Eventually, due in great part to Lily Mortar's refusal to return in time for the trial, the women lose their case and are ruined. Weighed down by lethargy, ennui and weltschmerz, the only questions left are: Will they eventually be able to rebuild their lives, or will it all end in tragedy? Will Joe's suggestion to move away be followed, or will he be sent away? And will Mrs. Tilford realize the horrible injustice she was tricked into perpetrating?

The Children's Hour was adapted for the screen twice, both by director William Wyler, a friend of Hellman's. His first version, These Three in 1936, changed the scandal to a rumor of an affair between Joe and Martha. The second verson, in 1961, starred Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine and James Garner as the central trio, and is far better known.

Comparing the two film versions would be interesting, since they were both by the same director but with different casts. The current stage production, however, boasts a talented director in Sarah May, who has taken a more than able cast and made them into something truly impressive.

The schoolgirls in the play were almost uniformly good, although Heather Farr absolutely exceeded expectations. Her work as Mary Tilford was exceptional, nuanced with the bitterness of a spoiled child denied her wishes and a cunning and rage that almost bordered on sociopathy. Were Hollywood to make another Omen film, she would be a great choice for the new female Damien-type character. Farr can really cast an evil glance, and her performance was believable in a role that could easily have been played to excess.

Rhoda Rosen as her grandmother was reminiscent of Jean Stapleton, and the majority of her reactions to the situations unfolding around her were picture-perfect, exactly those of a rich old woman protected from the brunt of the world's problems.

Hermaid Agatha, played by Kate Duffield, becomes an instant audience favorite since she neither trusts nor seems to really like Mary Tilford. Duffield turns in a Mrs. Danvers without the crazy: a hard-edged Hazel.

The central trio of the play are superb, especially Koesters as the affable country doctor Joe, a seeming buffoon who in an instant turns deadly serious and completely competent, but in so thoroughly believable a way, the audience can see the true depth of the character.

The Children's Hour plays through February 13, with 8 pm shows on Friday and Saturday, 3 pm Sunday matinees. Tickets are $26, $23 for seniors and $15 for students 22 and under. The Beck Center is located at 17801 Detroit Ave. in Lakewood, and can be reached at 216-521-2540 or online at www.beck

center.org.