Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
BARBARA L. FREDRICKSENSpring Hill resident Bill Devlin wrote Mrs. Giorgio's Day Off after his imagination was tweaked by a cousin's experiences.
The story for the upcoming drama at Stage West Community Playhouse, Mrs. Giorgio's Day Off, started with a real-life scenario.
"I had a cousin named Madeleine," said Spring Hill resident Bill Devlin, who wrote the play. She worked for a parish priest and was such an integral part of the church that many thought she had the authority to hear confessions and give absolution, he said.
The very idea sparked Devlin's imagination. What would happen if a trusting parishioner confessed to the church secretary, thinking the confession was privileged? Would the secretary have to tell the police what she knows? Or would she be protected under accepted law from revealing what she was told?
That's the story line for Mrs. Giorgio, which plays June 11-13 at The Forum at Stage West.
"There's a lot of good stuff in it, if I must say so myself," Devlin said with a twinkle in his eye.
In it, the retarded son of the highly respected mayor of a small, upstate New York town bursts into the parish office in an agitated state. Young Donny (Dan Karpen) falls to his knees and begins to sob out his story to Madeleine Beaupre (Betsy Glasson), the church secretary. Before she can stop him, he has blurted out that his father has molested him and his sister for years and that he has finally turned the tables on his father - with a pitchfork.
Madeleine is distraught; that should only have been told to Father Samuel Giorgio (Charles DePalo), she tells Donny. But it is too late; Miss Beaupre cannot unring the bell. She knows what happened. What is she to do now?
The matter is complicated by the rectory housekeeper, Clara Shilling (Shirley Button), who is openly in love with Father Sam, jealous of Madeleine and eager to cause trouble. Earlier, she had taunted Madeleine, saying the townsfolk called her "Mrs. Giorgio" because of her close relationship with the handsome priest.
To tangle things even more, Madeleine is engaged to be married to the town's police chief, Brian Taft (Jim Marsh) and has made herself the unappointed advocate for the town ruffian, Tommy (Dan Brijbag), who also knows Donny's secret and has urged him to defend himself.
In introductory notes to the play, Devlin says, "The basis for (Madeleine's) silence in this matter has been checked for its solid foundation with one of the country's authorities on Catholic theology." The resolution will be of interest to those who study church doctrine, as well as those who enjoy seeing characters work their way through tough dilemmas.
Devlin's cast includes the creme de la creme of Stage West actors. Among them, they have won 19 HAMI awards, the Stage West equivalent of Broadway's Tonys. Devlin himself won a directorial award for the comedy Move Over, Mrs. Markham in 1996. DePalo has won six HAMI awards, Ms. Glasson four, and Ms. Button and Brijbag three apiece, with Murrin garnering two and Karpen earning one.
"A group of us are working very hard to honor Bill Devlin's longtime talent and commitment to theater by being a part of his original comedy/drama," Ms. Glasson said.
WHAT: Mrs. Giorgio's Day Off
WHERE: Stage West Community Playhouse, 8390 Forest Oaks Blvd., Spring Hill
WHEN: 8 p.m. June 11 and 12; 2 p.m. June 13
TICKETS: $10. Box office is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and an hour before each show. Call (352) 683-5113.