Can romance thrive through the course of a marriage?
What happens when it takes a sabbatical? Does infidelity necessarily spring solely from wanton abandon?
Robert Anderson’s play Silent Night, Lonely Night delves into the nature of romantic love, the consequences of sexual relations in a society scaffolded on Christian morality and contrasts these traditional notions with the uninhibited ability of the sexual act to be a source of comfort and communion with another person.
In the 1950s, love, sex, marriage and fidelity were inextricably bound. Indulging sexually could set your life’s course because of the pervasive belief that sex belonged wholly in holy matrimony. Extra-marital liaisons were considered wanton at the very best.
The play explores the fragility of romantic love in a long term relationship and loneliness, in its absence.
It’s Christmas Eve. One of the loneliest nights of the year for many. Katherine (Peggy Leto) has come to visit her son in a small American town where he attends school.
Self-professed widower, John (Barry McMaster) loses no time in infiltrating Katherine’s solitude over dinner in the hotel where they are both staying. An incurable romantic he regales her with the story of his great love for his wife and his loneliness, his pain. She listens.
Her experience of marriage is contrasted with his, and so is her personality.
The play is delivered with humour, intellect and sensitivity. Barry McMaster’s gregarious portrayal of a middle-aged American man is vivid and convincing. His stories and his person fill the stage.
Peggy Leto’s Katherine is John’s foil. Reserved and anxious, she gradually warms to John’s presence in her suite. Her delivery is subtle and restrained.
Director, Jim Searle delivers a reflective night at the theatre with quite a few laughs thrown in.
Silent Night, Lonely Night, by The Guild Theatre, Rockdale, is just the play to ease you into the fast approaching Christmas season. On until November 24.
Tickets: guildtheatre.com.au
