Review: MAYBE WE'LL FLY at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre

Throughout her life Wisconsin folk/outsider artist Mary Nohl created her art from found treasures and a love of nature. In “Maybe We’ll Fly,’” Wisconsin playwright Marie Kohler created her art from a lifetime of Nohl’s memories.

Four actors, Lainey Techtmann, Emma Rosenthal, Karen Estrada and Leslie Fitzwater portray the evolution of a fiercely independent artist in each season of her life. Each creates a sharply singular character within the mind and memory of one fascinating woman, portraying the challenges – and occasional triumphs each season brings.

The Nohls at different seasons of life share a stage, but do not interact until the play’s end. They only exist in the most elder Nohl’s memory. 

Fitzwater’s expressiveness, as she watches herself go from bursting entusiasm to practical cynicism and back to the more mature joy of creating for its own sake, unites the seasons. Her affection for her younger selves and her occasional regret form the heart of the play.

While “Fly” is not a musical, the characters occasionally do sing. Cellist Alicia Storin – representing Nohl’s emotionally distant mother — plays hauntingly throughout. Composer Josh Schmidt created the score.

While the play is biographical, it is also fictional, which allows for moving and engaging flights of fancy in every season

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