Pictured: (L-R) Tom Harney, Denise Cormier and David Breitbarth in character at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Photo courtesy of Asolo Rep.

The stages are filling up fast at the Asolo Rep this season, with Eugene O’Neill’s nostalgic comedy Ah, Wilderness! opening Jan. 22 in the Mertz Theatre. Primarily known for his dramatic work, this sole comedy from the great American playwright (and winner of the Tony Award and both the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes) melds “gentle comedy” with “enormous heart” said director Greg Leaming, for a whimsical yet thoughtful rumination on what’s often deemed a simpler time in the history of American life.  

The story begins July 4, 1906, with the Miller family in small town USA, where O’Neill spins “his vision of what childhood could have been, should have been,” said Leaming. On it’s face a coming-of-age comedy about family, teenage love and generational conflict, “O’Neill could not help that his perspective always included a somewhat darker vision,” said Leaming, “and there are a lot of wonderful darker elements that temper the sweetness of the romanticism.” The danger of sex looms large, accompanied by the specter of lost love.

As part of the Asolo’s continuing American Character Project, the play stands as an interesting counterpoint to productions such as All The Way, which opened last week. Whereas the latter presents a portrait of where the country is now, said Leaming, “Ah, Wilderness! is really a portrait of where we came from.” But taken in context - written in the 1930s, but set in 1906, just prior to World War I - the play also serves as requiem or reminder for perhaps what the country could, or should, have been. O’Neill did have a sense of humor, Leaming assures, “and oddly enough it came out in this play in a way it doesn’t in his other works.”

Starring David Breitbarth in his 20th season with the company and Denise Cormier, also found onstage this season in All The Way, the production likewise sees a large contingent of the third year student company from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, including Tom Harney as the rebellious Richard Miller, which Leaming, also director of the Conservatory, reports had an unexpected effect on the production. “It happens to be an extremely musical group of actors, so we decided to build a lot of music into the play,” he said, incorporating period appropriate music, a cappella performance and an ubiquitous parlor piano, for a “dreamlike” production.

Ah, Wilderness! opens January 22 at the Asolo Rep and runs until April 10.

Pictured: (L-R) Tom Harney, Denise Cormier and David Breitbarth in character at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Photo courtesy of Asolo Rep.