I recently had the pleasure of seeing WCSU’s production of “The Stepmother,” a play written in 1924 by feminist hero Githa Sowerby. Quite literally a buried treasure, this play was discovered almost 80 years after Sowerby wrote it!

The production itself was a perfect combination of humor and drama. While the performance contained heavy amounts of dialogue, the performers’ ability to seamlessly execute the dialogue with flawless accents that never waivered did not go unnoticed.

The stepmother, Lois Relph (Stephanie Brown), served as a strong female lead; she handled unpleasant situations gracefully, but with the necessary sass. Her attitude was one of a kind. At one point she approached her stepdaughter who had awkwardly pinned flowers on her dress and said “You will remove those at once,” without an ounce of hesitation. The audience, including myself, burst out in laughter. All the while, Brown remained straight faced.

The set, designed by Maiko Chii, perfectly captured the essence of an old-time English home. The attention to detail was impeccable; the living room was equipped with a working fireplace, elegant furnishings and “cigarettes” that produced real smoke. I enjoyed the shadow-box format of the performance, for I felt as though I was standing outside of the home and watching everything happen.

Eustace Gayden (David Fejes) begins the play alongside Charlotte Gaydon (Alexandra Olinyk). They are engaged in a very intense dialogue in regards to a large sum of money that Eustace and his family has inherited. Their interaction is broken up by repeated appearances of their maid, Mary (Alaina Mueller). The personalities of each character are distinct; Eustace is extremely dominating and manipulative, while Mary is submissive and seems rather scared of him. Charlotte, on the other hand, is the perfect example of a crotchety old woman.

The play reaches its climax when Lois’ husband, Eustace, informs her that he has frivolously spent all of their money. This money is essential in order for his daughter, Monica Gaydon (Kristen Muller), to marry Cyril Bennet (Ryan Jepsen). Eustace threatens Lois that if she is unable to make back the money, he will tell his daughters about an extramarital affair that she had. Everybody was on the edge of their seat with anticipation of how Lois was going to handle the situation.

A prominent theme of the play is the unequal treatment of women during the era in which the story takes place. Each performer does a flawless job of playing their role in a male-dominated world. Although the play started off with heavy dialogue that was a bit difficult to follow, it ultimately blossomed into a compelling storyline led by extremely talented performers. I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and would recommend it to anybody.