Long Synopsis of The Gloaming

The Complete Synopsis of
THE GLOAMING: A New Musical
By The Lovewell Theatre Project

“The real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. And the light is truth.”–Plato

The gloaming is the time of day just after sunset but before the dark. It is a mystical time when the colors of the day fade into the shadows of the night. A time of passage.  As Marguerite Bollinger, a renowned 75-year-old scholar of Ancient Greek mythology sings, it is a time when “longings linger—the fires of yesteryear.” ForMarguerite, who is falling into dementia, it is a time to reconcile her family, which has been ravaged by a mythology she had created.

We meet Marguerite in the apple orchard of her family homestead, an 1830s Greek Revival farm house near Athens, Ohio. For Marguerite the orchard has alwaysbeen filled with spirits. They emerge in a fantastical opening song, The Gloaming, asMarguerite wanders through the orchard seeking reunion with her beloved latehusband Hector, whose grave lies beneath a large apple tree. As the song progresses,the spirit of Marguerite as a young woman emerges, calling her into a frenzied dance near Hector’s grave. We realize that the dance signifies the onset of a stroke, as Marguerite collapses. Her son, Gandy, finds her and leads her into the house, and callshis sister-in-law, Ann, for help.

As the next scene opens, Ann stands in front of the old farm house with her 13-year-old son, Telemachus—or Mac, as he insists on being called. We soon learn that theBollingers named their two sons and grandson after Greek mythological characters—names that influenced the paths of their lives. Ann was married to theiroldest son, Uly—short, of course, for Ulysses.  A medical doctor who travelled theworld helping victims of disasters, Uly died 14 years earlier, before Mac was born,while rescuing children after an earthquake in Turkey. Ann then moved to Columbus and became a gerontological nurse. She has seldom returned to Athens. Now sheconfronts a house that hides secrets that she continues to repress. To her it is a House of Ghosts.

As Ann walks through the door, she sees Marguerite asleep in a chair and Gandy drinking beer. Gandy was named for Ganymede, a youth so beautiful the gods fell in love withhim. He has lived his life accordingly. Gandy was also musically gifted—“I should have named him Orpheus”—says Marguerite. Gandy taught music at the local high schooluntil a scandal involving drugs, students, and a car crash sent him to prison for two years. The incident occurred in the apple orchard a few months after his older brother,Uly, died being a hero. After his release Gandy took off for Los Angeles to try to reclaim his life by writing and singing rock songs. He returned in defeat after his father’s death three years earlier. Now he plays local music gigs and watches over Marguerite. He and Mac have met only once—at Hector’s funeral.

Desperate for help after Marguerite’s seizure and her increasingly bizarrebehavior, Gandy pleads with Ann to return to Athens to assist with Marguerite. Ann harbors resentment toward Gandy for his “crime.” She says he’d be a bad influence onMac. As the two start to rehash the past and the problems with Marguerite, Ann sends Mac upstairs, where he sings Not in Front of the Boy.

Marguerite awakens and, since it’s now another gloaming, she tries to go into theorchard to seek Hector. Ann intercepts her on the porch, and as they go into the orchard Marguerite tells her that something feels wrong—Spring’s a Little Late This Year. As the song concludes, Mac finds them, and Ann leaves the two together to continue her adult conversation with Gandy. She finds Gandy on the porch. He has just sung Stupid Smart, which reveals his feelings about his parents, his brother, the prejudices of his small town—but mostly his own stupidity for getting in trouble.

Meanwhile in the orchard, Marguerite conjures a fantasy sequence with the spirits that live there, including the Young Marguerite, to persuade Mac that, like his father, he has a heroic mission (A Hero’s Journey.)On the porch, Ann and Gandy argue over the best course for Marguerite. Ann feels strongly that the house needs to be sold, and Marguerite admitted to an appropriate facility to care for her dementia, which will continue to worsen. Gandycan’t accept that. Their conversation is punctuated by unresolved issues. They had beenclose once—before Uly died. And this house had been filled with love and good spirits.

Mac and Marguerite return to the porch. Ann takes Marguerite inside. Gandy and Mac have a conversation about music, and the Ritalin that Ann has him on for his “developmentally inappropriate symptoms of short attention span, moderatedistractibility and impulsivity.” They talk too about Ann. Mac says she has no one in her life except him and that he worries about her unhappiness.  Mac asks Gandy about Uly. They share pictures of “The Man Who Used To Be.”  They agree to write a song together in a moment of tentative bonding.

The scene shifts to inside the house. Marguerite wanders, spouting quotes from Greek tragedies. Gandy takes her upstairs, while Ann soothes a tired Mac. They sing “Lullaby.” The quiet moment shifts into Gandy’s Dream, which explains in fantasy the night that destroyed his life.

The next day Ann prepares dinner for a party that Marguerite wants to have to celebrate everyone’s return to the house.  It grows boisterous, and Ann drinks a bit too much as they honor the history of the house, which Marguerite considers her “temple.” (The Temple of the Hesperides) As the song concludes, Ann angers Marguerite by blurting out that they need to sell the temple. Marguerite then blurts out a truth that Ann thought only she herself knew. That Mac’s father is alive—and sitting across thetable. It’s Gandy.

As Act Two opens, we see a flashback revealing Young Marguerite and Hector buying the old farm decades earlier, as well as the births of Uly and Gandy. Interspersed with this are discussions between Ann and a doctor, lawyer and real estateagent. Gandy has been gone for three days, vanishing  after the revelation, and Ann is moving to sell the house. Gandy returns and the two fight over the truth Ann has concealed, which has damaged everyone. Mac overhears and rushes out into the orchard. There he sings “Seeing Red” and contemplates suicide. Mysteriously, Young Marguerite emerges. With the Monty-Pythonesque help from the ghosts of Orpheus, Oedipus, and Medea, she talks him down  (Don’t’ Let Gravity Get You Down).

Meanwhile, the elder Marguerite intervenes with Ann, who is tormented by her long-standing lie.  Struggling to redeem herself, she writes Mac a heartfelt letter (I Can’tLive With Myself). Gandy enters, and the two reconcile, admitting they have continued to feel strongly for each other.

Upstairs  Marguerite tries to comfort Mac (There Will Be Fires).The auction to sell the house commences, but Ann interrupts it, saying she will move back and help care for Marguerite and try to rebuild the family. Marguerite objects, insisting that the house be sold so that the young family can move on without the ghosts that inhabit it.

Young Marguerite appears to Marguerite as the auction continues, drawing her into another whirling dance, this one signifying a much more massive—and fatal–stroke. Young Marguerite lowers Marguerite’s body onto her bed. She raises her arms in an invocation of fire, and the room ignites. Outside, Ann, Gandy and Mac see smoke pouring out of the house. Gandy rushes in, followed by Mac, emerging with Marguerite’s body. As Young Marguerite continues to sing “There Will Be Fires,” Gandy lays his mother’s body on the ground. Marguerite’s spirit rises and moves into the orchard, where she finds Hector waiting. They begin to dance, and vanish. As lights fade into the gloaming, Mac, Gandy and Ann hold each other, facing with hope the uncertainty of a new day.