What happens when you lose your lifelong spouse?
"For the aging people of America it’s a poignant issue," said Barry Hoffman, who is directing the Potomac Theatre Company’s upcoming production of The Cemetery Club. "What do people do when they lose their life partners?" It is a question that The Cemetery Club sheds light on, Hoffman said.
The three main characters are Jewish widows who band together in the wake of their husbands’ deaths.
"They visit their husbands’ graves on a regular basis, then one day a man shows up at the graveyard and situations ensue," Hoffman said.
The three main characters, the widows, are Ida, Doris, and Lucille.
"I’m very secure in my marriage, I’m only interested in visiting my husband's grave and grieving," said Nancy Franciose of Ida, her character. Doris, played by Karen Winokur, has grieved and is beginning to warm to the idea of meeting someone new, Franciose said. Lucille, the third widow, appears to have quickly moved past the grieving stage.
"She’s a character," Winokur said.
"I’m playing the field," Deavers said of her character. "I mean you certainly don’t want to pick the first guy that comes along." Yet Deavers’ character of Lucille isn’t as flighty as she appears. "She’s the one carrying the deepest burden," said Jerry Schuchman, who plays a butcher who develops what Schuchman called an "innocent attraction" toward Lucille.
"I don’t think you bring chicken livers over if you’re innocent," Deavers joked.
Schuchman said that the male/female interest between Lucille and the butcher is really secondary to the relationship between the three women and the paths that they choose as they cope with their losses.
Winokur said that the audience will react to the play the same way that she reacted when she first read the script.
"I know a lot of these women," said Karen Winokur. "They’re very familiar kinds of characters — they’re my mom, my mother-in-law, my aunt. … I identified with them."
The play, which was written originally by Ivan Menchelli and ran briefly on Broadway in 1990, blends drama with humor, said Hoffman. "It’s a comedy, but there [are] very dramatic moments too. It’s a serious play."
"It’s funny, it’s poignant, and it’s about change, and change is hard," said Deavers.