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Photo credit: Ann Marsden
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(cont'd.) The play is set at a time when Clara's Schumann's husband, a celebrated composer, has just committed himself to a mental asylum, leaving her to care for their seven children. She struggles to cope with their emotional needs, the family's financial burdens, and her own driving desire to return to the stage. She is, after all, one of the most famous concert pianists in the world — an extraordinary feat for a 19th-century woman.
Into this mixture of pain, anxiety and overwhelming responsibility walks the "visitor," a man fourteen years younger than she. He is handsome, full of promise, and a musician like herself. His devotion to Clara is crossing the boundary into love. She is suppressing her own battle between decorum and desire.
These emotions ignite the tinder in the one-woman show, Clara's Visitor. Clara at first finds comfort in the presence of her visitor. But one part of Clara's plan for the future does not sit well with him. Feeling cornered, she reveals her own vulnerability and passions.
Her riveting story is brought to life by pianist and actress Stephanie Wendt, who becomes Clara, using her words, her compositions and music by her luminary loved ones. Wendt brings careful research and remarkable passion to this unique combination of play and concert.
It is a story of love and loss, courage and frailty. It is a story that is old and new, and it is unforgettable.
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