The Edge Of Peace
At the American Alliance for Theatre & Education Conference (AATE) held in Chicago, July 26 – 31, Susan Zeder’s most recent edition of her “Ware Trilogy” had a trial production of The Edge of Peace before its scheduled premiere in Seattle in 2013. This much anticipated play finishes Zeder’s journey through three tumultuous decades of the 20th century in Ware, Illinois, where parallels can be found to circumstances today.
This last of three weaves together the stories from previous plays, making it an extremely dense work, and having repercussions for each of the main characters. It introduces a new character, young Buddy (Will Higgins, already a well seasoned performer) who seems to stand in for the audience as he watches the adults dealing with the effects of war. Perhaps the memorable line in the play is his: “I’m not adorable, I’m eleven,” which sent audiences chuckling.
But one character stands at the heart of trilogy and hence, of The Edge of Peace. Tuc (performed by the magnificent signer, Robert Schleifer) began as a deaf boy who grows up over the course of the three plays. In Peace he has settled into a small town routine during WWII, doing odd jobs that might normally have gone to hearing men. We witness a gradual softening of prejudices against someone like Tuc as more men return from battle with various “invisible” ailments.
The mystery pervading the play is introduced early when the neighbors report that a German POW has escaped from the nearby POW camp. Since there is a mysterious presence sighted here and there about the town and Mother Hicks (Mary Poole) is seen going into the camp, townspeople assume that she is a spy while Tuc, too, is implicated.
The trappings of WWII – wonderful period costumes by Emily Tarleton, serviceable lighting by Michael Stanfill and spare sound design by Joshua Harvath –augment the action while audiences become reacquainted with Girl (Anne Munch), her mother, Margaret (Jaqui Jarrold), Buddy’s mother, June (Tracey Green) and sister-in-law, Izzy (Desiree Staples). His absent brother (played by Joe Sinopoli) plays a very important role as well, showing that PTSD existed long before it had a name.
There are assorted wives-in-waiting as well as the voice of Tuc (Zach Spound, with no specific character designation), wandering through the serviceable setting of three symbolic stoops (by Scott Davis), each flying a single blue star indicating each husband’s war status. Perhaps the most emotional moment in Peace concerns an exchange of three blue stars with gold ones upon the news of their deaths.
By the end, all the threads have been woven together save one; when it is revealed that the business-like Margaret is actually Maisie from the Deaf school, we learn her connection to Girl, but the character herself never does. Although Ms. Zeder may be satisfied that all the stories have been told, we never learn how young Girl will take the news of her mother’s identity. But I am left in wonder.
The Edge of Peace, which first commissioned the play funded in part by The Children’s Theatre Foundation of America, will premiere at Seattle Children’s Theatre in 2013. Go to www.sct.org for details.