Essex Community Players brings a family drama to the stage this May

ESSEX TOWN – The Essex Community Players are bringing a play about family trauma and personal resilience to the stage next month.

Performances of “The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds” are set for select dates from May 3-18 at Memorial Hall in Essex Town. Tickets for the show can be purchased here.

“The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds” follows a dysfunctional family: single mother Beatrice and her two daughters, Ruth and Tillie. Written by Paul Zindel, the play won the Pulitzer Prize in 1971 after a successful run Off-Broadway. It was later made into a film directed by Paul Newman. 

The story follows Tillie, who is intellectually and emotionally gifted compared to the rest of her family, as she works through a series of setbacks to win the school science fair with her marigolds that were raised from seeds exposed to radioactivity. 

Beatrice, the play's antagonist, is a single mother who takes in elderly boarders for extra money and is resentful of Tillie’s successes while being sad about her own life situation.

Essex Players director Adam Cunningham has directed both dramas and comedies for the theater group in the past. He thinks the audience will find plenty of parts they will relate to in this play.

“The play takes place in the 1960s when people had less access to mental health resources, and I think people will see glimpses of their own families in this,” he said. 

“What she (Beatrice) suffers from is despair and a complete loss of hope, but I think people will see that we can rise above that, and that forgiveness goes a long way toward overcoming that trauma,” he added.

The play does not dwell on specific moments of the turbulent 1960s and instead stays focused on Tillie’s insular, family unit. Despite New York City being across the river, the family is as isolated as if they were in the plains of Iowa, Cunningham said.

He feels lucky to have found two actors for Tillie and Ruth in Violet Chamberlain and Nathalie Stapelton, respectively, who looked alike with red hair and lighter skin and who are also strong actors and easy to work with. 

Several people auditioned for all of the roles but not many auditioned for the mother, Beatrice, Cunningham said.

“She’s got this very hard edge but she’s vulnerable,” he said. “She does say a lot of mean things but you got to understand why she’s that way.”

The play features a live rabbit who is cast as Peter, a rabbit who is gifted by Tillie's science teacher Mr. Goodman and kept as a pet by the sisters. Mr. Goodman is an unseen character who serves as a lifeline to Tillie and a catalyst for the climax of the play.

Stage manager Louise Richmond said a focal point of the set is a staircase that reaches into the second story of the theater and helps to highlight different moments in the performance. The set will also have boxes scattered around the stage that show a lifetime of accumulated objects.

Chamberlain, who plays Tillie, auditioned for the show after seeing another performance by the Essex Community Players and has been practicing with her castmates since March. Watching the movie adaptation of the play helped her prepare for her role.

“Watching the movie definitely helped me to take pieces and put them into the play to understand how characters act,” Chamberlain said.

Linda Iannuzzi, who plays Beatrice, said she had to find a balance between darkness and lightness when getting ready for the role.

“I find it really interesting to explore the character and her daughters and the dysfunction,” she said.

Those interested in learning more about the play or about Essex Community Players can visit www.essexplayers.com.