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Discuss“Go see a play at the Kitchen Theatre” isn’t yet on Cornell’s infamous list of 161 Things to Do Before You Graduate — and that’s a crime. Currently located in the Clinton House on Cayuga Street (read: very close to the Commons), the Kitchen Theatre features a wealth of interesting shows throughout the year, none more valuable than the current Main Stage performance, Last Train to Nibroc.
Arlene Hutton’s play is a tale of two people falling in love in 1940s World War II America. The play’s first scene is on a train, a coast to coast-er coming from Los Angeles and rumbling all the way to New York City. Raleigh (Eric Gilde), a brash, uniformed young man with short, slicked-back blonde hair, eyes the seat next to a beautiful young lady. May (Ann Letscher), a delicate and conservative-dressing brunette, reluctantly lets the fellow sit beside her. But she turns her back on him and points her nose up to show that she doesn’t want to be talked to. Raleigh seems to have his work cut out for him, and he tries to pick up a conversation, speaking gently and playfully to May, asking her where she’s going and where she’s from.
May’s mother must have told her not to talk to strangers on the train, and she puts up a perfect brick wall between them, only to see Raleigh expertly take it apart, piece by piece. After some prodding, May tells Raleigh that she is crawling back home to Kentucky, exhausted after a torturous visit with her ex-fiancee, who’s based in L.A. learning to fly planes for the war. Raleigh reveals that he’s also coming from that base, and that he was released from training for having seizures. Delighted by the coincidence, Raleigh’s spirit divulges to May a curious secret: F. Scott Fitzgerald and Nathaniel West are riding the same train, lying down in coffins in the baggage car.
Raleigh pours the substance of his personal dreams on May. He is going to follow in the footsteps of “Scotty and Natty,” and start a new life for himself in New York City as a writer. Interested in each other’s ambitions, the two continue talking, and when the conversation turns to their upbringing, it is revealed that Raleigh and May grew up in adjacent towns in Kentucky. Eventually, Raleigh makes it known that he wants to see May again, and they make plans to go to the Nibroc Festival next year in May’s hometown, Corbin
Raleigh and May are the only two characters portrayed in Last Train to Nibroc, and the full length of the play is dedicated to their relationship, which starts out peachy but soon zigzags into shadows. As we become more involved with Raleigh and May, Arlene Hutton expertly places them in context. World War II looms over the play like a giant animal, and the influence of the conflict on everyday life is portrayed through each word and action of the protagonists. Put succinctly, the war and Hutton are co-creators of May and Raleigh. Sitting in our seats, it is almost unbearable to watch as Raleigh and May’s interactions become more strained, listening to them talk about how the war has created irrevocable tragedies in their lives. The tension we experience watching the war arrive onto the center of the stage right as we begin to feel the most attached to Raleigh and May is a potent and complicated device that makes Last Train to Nibroc a perfect fit for the intimate and personal venue of the Kitchen Theatre.
A striking aspect of the play is its reliance on only two characters. Hutton’s writing talent is on display with this device; her play is highly emotionally charged exactly because she places 100 percent of the emphasis on her protagonists. Props are spare throughout the play, and a simple wooden bench serves multiple purposes as the train seats, a wooden bench in a park and the seating on May’s porch. With nothing else to focus on except Raleigh and May, the conversations they have feel light as air, and the audience members become enraptured in their accents and intonations, the way Raleigh opens his eyes in mock, playful disbelief and how May smiles, the ends of her lips stretching in amusement.
The Kitchen Theatre’s production of Last Train to Nibroc is a regional premier of the performance and the acting could not be any better. In the hands of director Rachel Lambert, the play comes to life before our eyes and we feel our hearts beating alongside the traditional Appalachian music composed by Ithaca College student Robert Dietz. Playing until Dec. 6, Last Train to Nibroc is perfect for any occasion, be it a date or a simple escape from present reality. Last Train to Nibroc gives its viewers a little more faith in love and its power, all the while letting us drop in on an era many decades removed.