This past weekend, the Bowdoin theater department resurrected the forgotten drama “End of Summer,” by S.N. Behrman, with a production directed by Professor of Theater Davis Robinson.
“End of Summer,” a comedy set in south coastal Maine, explores the divide between haves and have-nots, radicals and conservatives, an older generation and the younger. Written in the 1930s, the play draws obvious parallels between the Great Depression and the current economic climate in the United States, Robinson made a point of emphasizing.
“When the Occupy Wall Street movement happened, I went back to look at ‘End of Summer’ again because the two young guys who are graduating from Amherst and can’t find any work struck me as people who are trying to do the common good,” said Robinson. “They want to start a new movement, they’re not exactly sure what it is but they want to change what feels like an unjust system.”
The play opens with the arrival of three newly minted Amherst graduates to the coast of Maine, where they plan to spend the summer before stepping into adult life. Paula, a wealthy yet “radical” daughter of oil money, is played by Tess Chardiet ’13. James Jelin ’16 takes on the role of Paula’s boyfriend Will, a wide-eyed social radical, who, along with his friend Dennis (Jared Littlejohn ’15) has dreams of starting a revolutionary magazine.
Both Paula and her mother, Leonie, played by Sarah Chalfie ’14, feel isolated due to their extreme wealth. Paula works through this loneliness by joining up in the radical cause of her college friends, while Leonie surrounds herself with men from whom she seeks emotional companionship.
“The play focuses on a really wealthy family that has a huge fortune, which puts rich people in an interesting position,” said Robinson. “The characters are written in a sympathetic enough way that it helps you understand being wealthy has problems too; often mental illness, and loneliness, and a lot of internal pain within a family.”
Not only is this theme relevant in the context of the ever-expanding wealth gap in the U.S. but it also resonates at Bowdoin, where considerable, if subtle, socioeconomic differences shape the character of this campus.
“I know there’s some very wealthy people in class right next to some kids who have no idea what that level of wealth is about,” said Robinson, “I wanted to humanize both sides of that. That struggle is always going to be there and I like that [Behrman] brings that up.”
Both viewers and actors were impressed with the play’s nuance and ability to touch.
“I liked it a lot,” said Sam Canales ’15, who attended the Friday night show. “I thought Dennis was really funny.”
Littlejohn, who played Dennis, said he was pleased with how the production turned out.
“I think it was definitely great having an audience,” said Littlejohn. “It was interesting finally getting one and seeing what they reacted to, and riding the energy of the audience.”
Robinson said that one of the benefits of directing a college production is that it provides an opportunity to resurrect a largely forgotten play.
“One of the things a college can do that a professional theater can’t do is stage plays that have no commercial appeal,” said Robinson. “Something I do love about college productions is that there’s typically a lot of heart in the play. Students want to believe that they’re working on something that is important and meaningful.”
However, it’s hard work to produce a play at Bowdoin given the packed schedules of the student actors.
“It’s impossible to get a whole cast of people together at night to rehearse four or five nights because they have so many obligations. So the biggest challenge with Bowdoin is they are such multitaskers,” said Robinson of his cast.