"The Stepmother" premieres

Buffalo State theater students are preparing to stage the American premiere of a play called "The Stepmother," written by Githa Sowerby.

The play was only performed twice before, once in London in 1924 as a private performance, around the time the play was written. The play was forgotten until it was brought to the 2008 Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario.

Donn Youngstrom, chair of the theater department and director of the play, said it was this particular performance at the Shaw Festival that made him want to put it on at Buffalo State.

"The audience (at the Shaw Festival) was absolutely captivated by ‘The Stepmother,'" Youngstrom said. "It got to the point that they were hissing at the bad guy."

The script for "The Stepmother" was found in the basement of a publisher in England, Youngstrom said. It was then brought to the attention of Jackie Maxwell, the Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival.

The story is a melodrama about a woman who inherits a large sum of money and her experiences learning what it means to be a wife, mother and businesswoman.

The main character, Lois, is married with two adoring stepdaughters and runs a thriving business. When her eldest stepdaughter is in need of money to get married, she wants to help. It is only then that she learns her husband has squandered her money away in various failed business schemes, according to those involved.

"The cast is doing very well right now with rehearsals," said Kara Ashby, a senior theater major. "Everyone is being very professional and it's really exciting."

Ashby plays Monica, the eldest stepdaughter, in the play.

Another part of the performance is the setting and costumes.

"A lot of costumes are going to be built by student designer Ben Streeter and they're turning out really awesome," Ashby said. "There are not a lot of 1920's clothes out there to rent anymore, it's kind of disappearing."

Student set designer Mitchell Sash, a senior theater major, said he had a few difficulties in designing a set that didn't impede the view of any audience members and creating a scene that differentiates between 1920's England and 1920's America.

"Most of everything we know is American history," Sash said. "There is a difference between English and American, it was definitely a challenge trying to figure out what was different in the early 1900's in England as opposed to America."

The cast and crew said because this is the first time the play will be performed in the United States, students should come out to witness the premiere of a play that has been essentially "lost" for decades.

"It's an American Premiere, this is the first time in the United States the play has been done," Youngstrom said. "Shaw Festival can claim world premiere and North American premiere, but we are claiming American premiere."

Ashby said she is excited to see the response to the play.

"Not a lot of people know this play, or maybe none do, and I'm interested to see if it transcends and can still speak to people now."

Performances of "The Stepmother" will take place at the Flexible Theater in the Donald Savage Theater and Communications Building. It will run at 8 p.m. from Nov. 9-12 and Nov. 16-19. Performances on Saturdays will be matinees at 2 p.m. The play will run approximately two hours with a 10-minute intermission.

It is a rare opportunity to see this play, since it is only the second time it has been performed publicly.

Since the theater only seats 120 people, Youngstrom said he thinks it will fill up fairly quickly.

He encourages students to get their tickets soon and not miss out on the unique chance to see this play in its premiere performance in America.

Mia Summerson can be reached at summerson.record@live.com.