Ethan Frome

The play alternates between two distinct time periods ...

In one, Ethan Frome is a bitter, broken middle-aged man

In the other, the audience learns, through a series of flashbacks, the events that made him that way - Ethan has resigned himself to a loveless marriage with his cousin Zeena, a humorless hypochondriac

Then a naive, appealing young relative, Mattie Silver, comes to live with them and Ethan's bleak existence is changed forever

There are no happy endings here though, and audience members will do well to come armed with several handkerchiefs

The dual time frame makes the role of Ethan a real tour de force, but the complex roles of Zeena and Mattie offer plenty of range as well