Set in 1951 and 1968, a photographer struggles to build her career, and in the aftermath of her husband’s descent into mental illness, to keep her son and her secrets safe. Lillian, a photographer, and Max, a painter, nurture one another in both their personal and their professional worlds. Max’s manic-depressive illness unravels their lives, however, and its echoes reverberate through the adolescence of the couple’s son, Josh. It is the time of the Vietnam War and Josh, a gifted guitar player is intent on defying his mother’s wishes that he remain in school to avoid the draft and chart an easier life than that of his parents. Their relationship is upended by Josh’s discovery of the truth of his father’s life and illness.
SYNOPSIS
Marsh Light traces the stigma that disturbed mental health has always held and the lengths families have gone to treat and conceal it. It is a play about the relationships and richness that can be lost when safety becomes a priority. The story is an embroidery of one I heard from a friend when we were both young. The impact of the psychiatric treatment on individuals is something I witnessed in a summer working in a psychiatric hospital.
This production was not reviewed., An audience member who suffered from manic-depressive illness took the time to write a long note about the play which concluded:
“I wanted to tell you and everyone involved in the play you have created a remarkable, powerful, cathartic force which I feel should be seen by those with mental illness, those who serve them and those who love them or ostracize and isolate them.”
BACKGROUND ON THE PLAY
Lillian Walcott Weiss - 30ish, a photographer, an attractive combination of WASP and bohemian.
She grows more conservative with the passage of time.
Max Weiss - Mid 30's, Jewish, an established painter with charismatic intensity. Post psychosurgery he is without animation.
Stuart Walcott - Early 50's, Lillian’s father, a successful banker.
Marjorie Walcott - 50ish, Lillian’s mother, well manicured and brittle.
Bill Koerner - Mid 30's, a gallery owner. Stable, attractive in a low key fashion.
Josh Weiss – 17, a talented guitarist with an intensity reminiscent of Max.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
All characters except Marjorie and Josh age 17 years over the course of the play. The show takes place in Max and Lillian’s living room, a walkup in Manhattan, a room in the Hudson River Psychiatric institution, and the living room of a Wellfleet, MA cottage.
ADDITIONAL NEEDS
World premiere at Ensemble Studio Theater (LA)
Directed by John Frank Levey
