Review: SCOTLAND ROAD Takes the Audience on a Voyage at TheatreWorks New Milford

                Human beings are storytellers. Since the beginning of our time, we passed down stories from generation to generation: Stories of bravery, tragedy, and desperation. As the years passed, these stories began to change; they became more exaggerated and heroic to the point of absurdity. Belief became mythology, fiction became entertainment, and heroes became legend. But, in true human fashion, they became more romantic. We have a history of romanticizing the past. Call it nostalgia or hyperbole, but given time, any story will be romanticized. Which is exactly what Jeffery Hatcher set out to explore in Scotland Road.

                Under the watchful eye of Director Jocelyn Beard and surrounded by a sterile, boundlessly claustrophobic white room set, the cast of TheatreWorks New Milford’s production of Scotland Road had all the tools at their disposal to bring the Titanic back to life in order to expose the tragic truth behind the famous disaster that spawned films, documentaries, and more for a hundred years to come.

                The cast of Adam Battelstein, Erin Shaughnessy, Heather Haneman, and Noel Desiato took the audience on a voyage back to 1993, when a young Woman (Haneman) was discovered on a floating iceberg and claimed to be a survivor of the sinking of the HMS Titanic. Dr. Halbrech (Shaughnessy), a psychiatrist, caught wind of this discovery and tasked herself with transporting this Woman to Boston; stopping along the way at the behest of John (Battelstein), who wanted to discover if this woman was actually from the Titanic or an actress in some conspiratorial plot to defraud the memory of those who perished in the disaster. Despite a series of failed interrogations, the woman, who had remained silent since her discovery, finally broke and began to speak. In a last-ditch attempt to expose the Woman as a fraud, he brought in one of the last remaining survivors of the sinking, Miss Kittle (Desiato), to be able to ask for details that only a passenger on the ship would know. Over the course of the play, you learn that no one involved is quite who they seem, leading you to question motivations, goals, and even identities.

                The commitment of this cast to establishing and maintaining the air of mystery and immersion was enrapturing, and the icing that brought this cake together was the costuming, designed by Sue Haneman. From John and Halbrech’s modern (for ’93) outfits, to the Woman’s period dress, the costumes popped against the modern-minimalist set, adding to the claustrophobia that the set was designed to evoke. Lastly, I would be remiss to not point out the work of dialect coach, Julie Foh, and Heather Haneman to nail and sustain a Welsh accent. Its authenticity contributed to the immersion of the entire production, creating an unforgettable and thought-provoking night.

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