Adding to the festivities of the holiday season, Fivesparks will present five original holiday plays Saturday, Dec. 16, starting at 7:30 p.m. Harvard resident Bob Eiland, playwright, director, and actor, is producing the show, and all the plays are original works of area writers. Although none of the plays is making its debut at Fivesparks, they will likely all be new to most of the audience. Taken together, the scripts offer a look at the range of emotions the holidays can evoke—the joy and laughter, the nostalgia and sadness.
In a recent conversation, Eiland said he proposed the event to Fivesparks board members, who readily agreed such a program is an important part of what a community-based cultural organization’s vision encompasses. What he is calling “pop-up” theater adds diversity to what Fivesparks already offers. The event will bring entertainment to the community, afford regional playwrights a platform for their new works, and give local directors, actors, and production crew an outlet for their talents.
Lynda Vernalia and Harvard resident Jim Stoddard in rehearsal for Ellen Sullivan’s short holiday play, “Frosty.” (Courtesy photo)
Eiland’s work is familiar to many in town. Over a period of 10 years, he directed and produced an annual radio theater show in Volunteers Hall, sponsored by Harvard Friends of the Arts, an association presently inactive. Twice he directed and participated in storytelling events at Fivesparks. And he has supported Bromfield students in their theatrical pursuits.
The four playwrights in addition to Eiland are all writers he knows from different writing workshop groups of which he has been a member. One is from the Pioneer Valley Playwrights, a group of writers and actors who meet monthly over Zoom to read and critique original work. The other three are friends from Merrimack Valley Playwrights, now defunct. A few of the actors and most members of the crew, all but one from Harvard, are people he worked with on the radio shows. Jim Stoddard is the only Harvard actor besides Eiland.
Story arcs
As Eiland mulled over how to share a brief synopsis of each play without giving too much away, he suddenly gave the classic slap to the head, saying, “I just realized how these are all connected!” He paused for a moment. “They all show people who are in transition, dealing with the holidays and all the drama and laughter that ensues.” Although only 10 to 15 minutes long, each play has a narrative arc: Characters find themselves out of their comfort zone, the pressures of the holiday complicate the situation, and they arrive at some resolution.
“Bûche de Noȅl” is written by Gayle Hudson; Eiland is co-director and one of the four actors in the cast. He remarked that it’s hard to direct and act in the same piece, so in this case, he and Pamela Kathleen Hill can direct each other. Here, a middle-aged couple deals with their daughter’s new relationship. Things are further complicated by the dynamic between the mother and daughter, with each dealing in her own way with the daughter’s growing independence. Though Eiland gave no hint, the title suggests that a sweet “Yule log” cake may play a role in how things are worked out.
Eiland is the author of one of the shortest of the plays, “8 Candles and a Shamas.” It is the story of one person’s journey through the eight days of Hanukkah, with nostalgia, humor, and magical happenings. In the dramedy “Home for the Holidays,” written and directed by Karla Sorenson, a newly formed couple is coming to meet the parents. Ellen Sullivan is writer and director of “Frosty,” and Eiland gave assurances that “there will be a snowman.” What role might Frosty play in the lives of a newly separated couple as the holiday approaches?
Creative challenges
Erin Enwright”s “Please Go Home for the Holidays,” directed by Eiland, is, in his words, “a hilarious comedy” involving a newly dating couple and a pet. Eiland said that while each writer has created characters and plot that need to be skillfully developed and resolved, Enwright wrote her play in response to a deliberately challenging concept she set herself. After some cajoling, he admitted that in “8 Candles” he had also posed himself an unusual challenge.
Eiland said he loves the camaraderie of theater, the creative challenges, and the collaboration of directors and actors. “When creative minds work together, the end product benefits greatly.” A director brings a vision, but has to work through a lot of questions, including what will work for an audience, he said. Each play has a story meaningful in some way, and a director needs to figure out the best way into the story.
The nontraditional performance space—with no elevated stage, theatrical lighting, or “backstage”—is challenging, but a fun one, Eiland added. The production team is adapting to the staging limitations and will be doing its best to transform the environment to set each play and to move the actors gracefully on and off the performing space. “We have a transition plan,” said Eiland, and he will announce each new play. In addition to the challenges of the space, a late start gave only a three-week production time to pull all the elements together.
Eiland comes by a love of theater naturally. His parents started a community theater in two of the places they lived. Before his mom married, she was a disc jockey in Memphis, Tennessee, “spinning Ella and Louie.” Later she was president of the Surfside Players in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and she, along with Eiland’s dad, who had one of the first television stations in West Virginia, ran a rock radio station. Eiland seemed delighted by their talents and accomplishments and no doubt grateful for their inspiration.
Reserve seats at fivesparks.org and pay admission, $15 per ticket, at the door, 7 Fairbank Street.
