“Enchanted April” is a lesson is slow-paced, patient gardening

Put away the cell phone. Turn off the pager. Put your watch in your pocket.

If you intend to see “Enchanted April,” the Old Lyric Repertory company’s third production of the summer, you can plan on spending the better part of three hours without stress, without being in a hurry or facing troublesome issues. And that’s not all bad. In fact, in this case, it is quite good.

“Enchanted April” tells of four English women who rent a castle on the coast of Italy to escape all these harried things, and a few more. According to the program notes, The OLRC presentation of the Matthew Barber script taken from an earlier novel, was to run 100 minutes. Two hours and 42 minutes (with a 15-minute intermission) was more accurate on opening night. Patrons will need to exercise — as characters in the play are urged — “some Italian patience” with this one. The production is not a laugh-a-minute farce, not a tense mystery. It could best be described, as films often are, as a “chick flick.” It is sharply tuned character study, that paddles along like a sumptuous Merchant and Ivory production.

The first aspect of the production that intrigues patrons is the simple, yet layered set. What appears to be a nearly bare stage, is transformed by light and pale images on translucent screens into any number of locations and feelings. From rainstorms in dreary Hampstead to sunsets on the Riviera, set designers hit their mark and present emotions as much as backdrops. There must be eight or nine scene changes before intermission alone, each one fascinating — though time consuming — for the audience to watch. Set Designer Dennis Hassan and Lighting Designer Bruce Duerden must be positively noted as major pieces of the production.

The first housewife we meet who feels the need to have a personal holiday is Lottie Wilton, played by Tracy Hill. Hill takes her strong performance in “Moon over Buffalo” and eases it up a notch to make the audience feel the frustration she faces with boring husband Mellersh, played by Lee Daily. She convinces Rose Arnot, (Keri Hostetler) into sharing costs of the one-month rental, as Rose is struggling with issues of forgiveness and companionship with her husband, Frederick, a noted author played by Lego Louis. Hostetler has been in several OLRC productions over four years, and this is easily the best we have seen her. She appears to finally be at ease in “April.” Louis is not asked to do much, but Daily nearly brings the house down in one of the production’s few slapstick moments, a scene which involves a bath towel and little else.

Joining Lottie an and Rose in traveling to Italy is Mrs. Graves (played wonderfully by Jackie Fullmer), a staunch, hard widow who is as seemingly set in her ways as a concrete foundation. “April” is well-written, a treat for the ears, and Mrs. Graves gets many of the best lines, with her pithy sayings and sarcastic attitudes. Also picking up part of the rent for the month in San Salvatore is Caroline Bramble (Kindra Steenerson), a beautiful socialite who carries a secret and tries to keep herself and her beauty to herself. The quartet’s scenes together are paced, but nearly perfect. Even the dogs stay in line.

Landlord at the castle is Anthony Wilding, played by a more-restrained-than-usual Phillip Lowe, who is assisted by a maid (Maribeth Evensen-Hengge). They often speak in Italian, but knowing Italian is not a requirement for the audience, as Evensen-Hengge is quick to use body language and facial contortions to make the translation easier.

The plot is thin and simple, as “Enchanted April” is a character-driven production, not one that emphasizes the story line. The four women find themselves while sunning and shopping and then wonder if they can open up and accept others, including husbands. There are plenty of sighs, hugs and walks along imaginary beaches, each taking its own sweet — but slow — moment to unfold.

But like a rose unfolding, “Enchanted April” becomes, as Lottie described her Italian holiday as it wound to a close, “a lesson in gardening.” It’s worth the wait.