A Walk in the Woods-a two man play presented by NCCT

Sunday November 22, 2015

Briggs Opera House, White River Junction

North Country Community Theatre presented Lee Blessing's "A Walk in the Woods" this past weekend at the Briggs Opera House in White River Junction. Set in the woods outside of Geneva Switzerland in 1988, the play focuses on final years of the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union The nuclear arsenals held by these super powers were threatening to destroy the planet. The play is a dialogue between negotiators for each country. The script focuses more on the frustrations felt by these two very different men than on the political issues going on in their respective countries.

Andrey Botvinnik (Brownsville's own Kevin Fitzpatrick-who designed the lighting for Pentangle's "Rocky Horror" and ArtisTree's "Laughter on the 23rd Floor") and John Honeyman (Alan Haehnel an English teacher living in Hartford) start out as potential enemies, even though Andrey tries to get John to become his friend. Over the course of a year of negotiating (during the two act, four scene play) these two realize the futility of trying to stop nuclear arms proliferation between their countries. When one treaty is signed, new weapons are created and on and on.

The play is based on the formal arms negotiations that took place in Switzerland in 1982 between U.S. negotiator Paul Nitze and Soviet negotiator Yull Kvitsinsky. They met in the woods and drafted a arms control proposal that was rejected by both the U.S. and Soviet governments.

Under the direction of Linda Neubelt, both Fitzpatrick and Haehnel take the audience back in time to these private conversations taking place in the woods of Geneva where the fate of the world was held in their hands.

Look for more upcoming performances from NCCT by visiting their website: http://ncct.org/

In the lobby, Veterans For Peace hosted an information and donation table. For more information about their organization please visit: http://www.veteransforpeace.org/

More images: https://photosbynanci.smugmug.com/NCCT/A-Walk-in-the-Woods/

A Walk in the Woods
North Country Community Theatre
Briggs Opera House
White River Junction, VT November 22, 2015
Copyright ©2015 Nancy Nutile-McMenemy
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