Date: Fri 01-May-1998

By CAROL LEWIS

Published: Aug 11, 1999 12:00 am

Publication: Bee

Author: CAROLL

Quick Words:

Hughes-Blithe-Spirit-Stern

Full Text:

(rev "Blithe Spirit" @Long Wharf)

Theatre Review--

Hughes' First Season Is Closing With A Good Laugh

(with cut)

By Julie Stern

NEW HAVEN -- Long Wharf's new artistic director Doug Hughes opened the 1997-98

season with a bang-up production of an 18th century classic, Oliver

Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. After a year of enthralling and original

theater, he has chosen (wisely) to close with another classic comedy, Noel

Coward's Blithe Spirit .

Written in 1941 during the height of the Blitz, the play was part of Coward's

contribution to the War Effort -- helping to keep up the spirits of Londoners,

who were being bombed every night and hit with depressing war news in each

day's papers, by making them laugh, which they did an unprecedented 2,000

performances.

The plot begins with Charles and Ruth Condomines' light-hearted decision to

ask their local eccentric, Madame Arcati, to hold a seance in their living

room. It seems Charles is a mystery novelist who wants to work a seance into

his next book.

Unexpectedly they do make contact with the dead, in the person of Charles'

first wife, Elvira, who crashes into their lives with a gleam in her eye and

malice in her bosom. What happens next makes for a lot of fun.

This is not a play which requires any explanations or interpretation; its

success lies in the timing and delivery of Coward's lines. Under John

Tillinger's direction, the facial expressions and body language are

masterpieces of droll humor.

In particular, Pamela Payton-Wright is appropriately loopy as the dedicated

medium, and Margaret Welsh is slinkily seductive as the pouting and purposeful

Elvira. Michael Gill and Jayne Atkinson are well matched as the sophisticated

Mr and Mrs Condomine, and Seana Kofoed is wonderfully awkward as a very

nervous housemaid.

While this play has not attained the chestnut status of Arsenic and Old Lace

or You Can't Take It With You, it is clearly in the same category. You can

take your grandchildren to see it or your grandparents, and everyone would

enjoy it.

(Long Wharf's season -- and this production -- closes Sunday, May 3. Tickets

still remain for final performances. Call the theatre, 787-4282, for showtimes

and reservations.)

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Well that is some spin. The Democrats have a super majority on the LC and passed the Education Budget without serious consideration of if the voters could afford the multi million dollar increase. "Was the request justified?" rather than "is this needed?" and "can the voters shoulder yet another large increase?" The voters rightly sent it back. Then for some reason all the discussion around reductions to the increase seemed to be coming from the classroom, rather than administration and overhead costs. Is this a coercive tactic to manipulate parents into supporting the budget like tacit threat of cutting freshman sports was two years ago? Who believes the Democrats did not caucus privately before the meeting and came in with a number already worked out? This is the Dems budget, they own it.

Education Cuts: Who Voted For What

I think it is important that we do not villainize every black box seen around a home, business, farm, or municipal property. A black exterior station does not always mean rat poison is being used. These stations can hold a number of different products, including monitoring blocks, snap traps, non-toxic bait, anti-tick bait stations, organic salt- or cornmeal-based control products, and newer fertility-control approaches intended to reduce rodent populations without traditional poisons. The better conversation, in my opinion, is not simply “black boxes are bad,” but rather: what is inside them, who is maintaining them, and whether the rodent issue is being managed responsibly. Exclusion, sanitation, trapping, habitat reduction, and careful monitoring should all be part of a responsible IPM strategy. To be fair, on my own property I do use rodenticides, including Bromethalin and Bromadiolone, in secured bait stations. But that is a choice I make for my property, based on my circumstances and the risk I am trying to manage. I also believe property owners should understand the tradeoffs and be encouraged to use the least harmful effective method whenever possible. I support protecting Newtown’s wildlife. I also support giving residents accurate information and not assuming that every black box represents reckless or unsafe pest control. The goal should be responsible rodent management, not fear of the box itself.

Discusses Policy Against Rodenticides

Debora, thank you! I accidentally doubled the project prices by adding the bond to the appropriation. Thank you so much for catching that and pointing it out. With the corrected numbers, the voters approved a combined $1.32 million for a salt shed ($600k) and library pavement ($720k), while rejecting the $1.12 million replacement turf. Regarding the 80s, I truly respect the hurdle of 14% mortgage rates. My point is simply that the math has shifted: in 1980, while the rates were higher, the price of a home relative to earnings was significantly lower. We are facing a different, but equally crushing, financial wall. Ultimately, it is disheartening that voters who recognized safe sidewalks and parking lots as essential, dismissed a playing field in the exact same condition. The turf has passed its life cycle and is just as much of a liability as the library’s pavement, the only difference is that this safety concern affects thousands of children who, coincidentally, cannot vote. These are apples-to-apples needs. I was hopeful our community would agree that all Newtown residents deserve safe conditions, regardless of which facility they utilize. Again, I would be remiss not to mention that when 82% of residents don’t show up, we have to deal with the interests of those who did. Hopefully, the next referendum will have a bigger turnout.

The ‘Me’ Generation

Thanks for the reply. I meant the numbers you presented in your letter. I found one place where other numbers were listed: https://www.newtownbee.com/04232026/get-out-and-vote-on-the-2026-27-proposed-municipal-and-school-budgets/?q=\\\%22advisory%20questions\\\%22. In that article, the numbers were cited as: Treadwell field: $1,125,000 Library: $720,000 Salt Storage: $600,000 As one who started out in the early 80's when inflation was double digits, my 1985 mortgage rate was 14%, and child care costs were comparable (in present value), I shared your grief but never considered the voters ironic or shameful. PS. I agree college tuition is ridiculous. Thankfully, universities are offering (or considering) waiving all or most tuition for middle class families (upwards of $200,000 incomes). Hopefully, they'll also reconsider their need for those funds in the first place.

Sure! Child care costs: https://www.ffyf.org/2022/10/13/data-child-care-prices-continue-to-rise-ahead-of-midterm-elections-outpacing-inflation/ (also from 2021-2025 we had 2 children in a local daycare in Newtown and it cost us $3200 a month, so that's a number I am very familiar with) Home price / median price vs income source: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/home-price-income-ratios Tuition increase vs inflation: https://feed.georgetown.edu/access-affordability/noting-a-decline-in-middle-class-students-colleges-provide-more-aid/ Hope this helps :)

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Date: Fri 01-May-1998

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