"We Have Always Lived in the Castle"

July 12, 2018 — For the second play of their 88th season, The Barnstormers in Tamworth, New Hampshire, presented "We Have Always Lived in the Castle," a play adapted by Hugh Wheeler from the 1962 novel by Shirley Jackson. A family living in isolation after a sensational mass murder consists of Constance Blackwood (Angela Hope Smith), her younger 15-year-old sister, Mary Katherine, also known as Merricat (Miranda Reilly) and brother Jonas (Connor White), nearer 12. (I apologize if I misspelled his name. It has two "n's" in the program, one in his profile.)

The parents of the three siblings and several other family members were poisoned by arsenic in the sugar some years ago. Constance survived because she didn't use the sugar, Merricat and Jonas weren't present for the dinner. Constance was charged with the murders, but was acquitted at trail. No one else was ever charged. Townspeople still believed Constance was responsible and treated the family with such abuse and disdain, they were driven to a life in isolation. Only Merricat ventured into town for shopping.

Senile, wheelchair-bound Uncle Julian (Pat Tierney), who used the poisoned sugar but survived, is writing a book about the family at the time of the murders, but his memory is vague and his raving about the time is incoherent. But in his replaying of the incident over and over in his mind, his thoughts and memory are beginning to come together with renewed clarity.

Further complicating things, Charles Blackwood (Buddy Haardt), a cousin, arrives unexpectedly, unemployed and broke. He and Constance immediately become romantically attracted to one another, but Merricat believes he's only there for their money. Uncle Julian is extremely hostile to Charles, but is completely won over by him when he brings Julian a pencil sharpener to replace the one he lost.

Miss Clarke and Mrs. Wright, played by Barnstormers veterans Jean Mar Brown and Penny Purcell, provide some comic relief in an all-to-brief visit. The play would have benefited from larger roles for them.

The audience has no idea where all this is headed, and that's what builds tension. But some of the acting was a bit flat, livened up only by Uncle Julian's ranting, sometimes comical, sometimes a little scary. Tierney put in the best performance of the evening.

This production was directed by Blair Hundertmark, with an ingenious set complete with operational dumbwaiter, designed by Baron E. Pugh. This was a first-night performance. A few of the actors need to put a little more energy into their roles to keep the audience engaged.