When in Rome, Love as Romans Do, Over Again

McLean playwright Rachel Bail is standing the concept of till death do us part on its head.

Her latest play, "Thousands of Years -- Rome," premieres this weekend at the Alden Theatre, staged by McLean Drama Company. It focuses on a pair of lovers who more or less reincarnate and live their love again and again over two millenniums.

They're in Rome, "the Eternal City," so there is some sense in that. But it also gives Bail, who lived in Rome for several years, the opportunity to not only explore love as an enduring concept but also to play it against great historical events.

"It came about because I love the Roman Forum," Bail said. "One night I wanted to go there and couldn't get in because it was locked. So I thought about it and decided to write a piece about the Forum, based on a young legionnaire and a beautiful Roman girl saying goodbye in the Forum as he goes off to fight the Celts in Britain."

The effect war has on love is explored repeatedly as time passes, and new versions of the same lovers meet, love and separate. With each new epoch, this romantic drama explores the couple's passion against the backdrop of the Roman battles in Britain and Spain, the Renaissance, the Unification of Italy, the Nazi occupation of Rome and the Iraq War. By the end of the cycle, the man is a British journalist based in Rome who is heading off to the battlefields of Iraq, and the woman is a U.S. artist studying in Rome.

Director Maureen Kerrigan said that the lovers are seen as basically the same people in the various time periods but that there is a progression over the centuries.

"I see them as maturing," Kerrigan said. "The characters at first are very naïve and very sweet and easily hurt. As things start to evolve, they get a little stronger. And by the end, they've really learned a great deal, are more accepting of each other. It's like the movie 'Groundhog Day,' except that these people do evolve."

Students of 20th-century history will note that historical figures pop up in later stages of the play. Kerrigan, who said she has learned a great deal about the history of Rome during the production, wants the audience to know that although tragedies occur, this is not necessarily a tragic story.

"There's a hopefulness, a gentleness," she said. "It's very romantic. And I hope people will see that the feelings we have about going off to war from generation to generation are the same. Lovers are lovers."

Alex Bastani plays the male lead; Allison Plourdes the female lead. The supporting cast includes Jennifer Mayberry, Aaron Lovett, Joseph Branscomb, Sam Simon, Meghan Nelson and Daveeda Shaheen.

The McLean Community Center books McLean Drama Company on the Alden Theatre stage only one weekend a year. But "Thousands of Years -- Rome" will be seen again next month as part of the Capital Fringe Festival, which showcases new and cutting-edge performance material. Bail's play will run July 20 to 27 at Flashpoint-Mead Theatre Lab in Washington. Audiences there might see a somewhat different production, as that version will have a different director.

"Maureen Kerrigan, who's the main director for the Alden Theatre production, is an actress as well as a director, so she concentrates on the actors and their relationships," Bail said. "Jamie Roberts, who is directing for the Fringe Festival, is pretty avant-garde. But the main difference may be one of size. The Alden is a big theater, and the Flashpoint-Mead Theatre Lab only has 60 seats. The play will be the same, but it will be a more intimate experience at the Fringe, and the director's work has to reflect that."

Audiences at Sunday's matinee at the Alden will get a bonus. After "Thousands of Years," there will be a performance of "Open Communication." The comedy, by Katie and Alex Lewis, won first prize in the McLean Drama Company's 10 Minute Play Contest.

McLean Drama Company spokeswoman Susan Baumel said Katie and Alex Lewis is the pen name for a longtime McLean couple who write in their spare time. This is their first attempt at theater.

"Thousands of Years -- Rome" will be performed by McLean Drama Company at 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Alden Theatre of the McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave. Tickets are available at the box office, 703-573 7328 andhttp://www.ticketmaster.com. For information, visithttp://www.mcleandramacompany.org.

For information on the Capital Fringe Festival, visithttp://www.capfringe.org.