Cast

Synopsis

Three New York widows meet monthly for tea before visiting their husbands’ graves. Ida is sweet tempered and ready to begin a new life, Lucille is a girl who just wants to have fun, and Doris is priggish and judgemental – particularly when Sam the butcher enters the scene. Doris and Lucille squash the budding romance between Sam and Ida, but are guilt stricken when this nearly breaks Ida’s heart.

And then………

Directors Notes

I remembered in the film Schindler’s List survivors of the Holocaust filed past Oskar Schindler’s grave placing stones on the headstone, and wondered why. After all, stones conjure up a harsh image for most of us. It does not seem to be an appropriate memorial for a loved one who has passed on. The custom cropped up in this production so I had to do some research on the Internet and discovered some interesting things. First, stones have a special character in Judaism. In the Bible, the stone upon which Abraham takes his son to be sacrificed is called EVEN HASHITYAH, the foundation stone of the world. The most sacred shrine is a pile of stones – the wall of the Second Temple. So,without going on at length, why stones instead of flowers? It seems that New York cemeteries will not allow flowers. And there is a belief – with roots in the Talmud – that souls continue to dwell for a while in the graves in which they are placed. The stones put there by visitors are the means by which the living help the souls to “stay put” or remain where they belong. I hope this explanation helps you to enjoy this play with its often funny and sometimes poignant moments. Thank you cast and backstage crew for complying with my particular whims. ABOUT THE DIRECTOR Tony has spent a lifetime involved in theatre and is one of BLT’s longest serving members. He first acted here in 1950 as The Boy in Our Town, making two more juvenile appearances in the 1950s. He worked as a theatre critic for the Bingley Guardian and, later, ran a weekly theatrical column for the Blackpool Evening Gazette. Returning to Bingley and BLT he directed The Real Inspector Hound in 1975. Since then he has served on nearly every committee, designed and built sets and runs our popular ‘Fun Quizzes’ in the Victoria Bar. He recently directed See How They Run in 2010 and designed the set for The Darling Buds of May in 2012.