BRATTLEBORO — The Vermont Theatre Company presents On the Verge, Eric Overmeyer's feminist time-traveling adventure - a kaleidoscopic journey through time as three intrepid women explorers search for a Terra Incognita, where they will find meaning, love, and Cool Whip.
On The Verge was first produced in 1985. Since then, several theater companies in the United States, such as Baltimore's Center Stage, the Hartford Stage, and Boston's Central Square Theater, have produced it. Overmeyer was the story editor of the popular television series “St. Elsewhere,” and has written the scripts for several films. He is known as a master of understated comedy.
The characters in On the Verge are based on real Victorian “lady travelers” of the 1800s - women who rejected the limitations of their patriarchal society and went out on their own to seek independence from society's restrictions, especially from men. The three main characters, Fanny, Mary, and Alex, are of different ages and from very different backgrounds; nevertheless they share an independent spirit that greatly influences their worldview and is the foundation of their relationship.
As they progress on their quest, it becomes apparent that they are not on an ordinary journey. In fact, at the end of the first act, Mary reaches the conclusion that the three of them are in fact traveling forward through time and that they are beginning to absorb knowledge from the future.
Strange words such as “Mrs. Butterworth,” and “Cool Whip” begin to pop into their language, and they meet exotic men such as an Elvis impersonator who actually is a Marlon Brando clone. They give women hints of what lies ahead.
Eventually, they land in the comfort and safety of 1955 America, the land of “I Like Ike.” They settle there for a while, enjoying the life they find, until finally the call of the future summons them once more to move on.
Colin Grube directs VTC's production of On the Verge, bringing out the humor in the play (he was the director of VTC's Shakespeare in Hollywood in 2015).
The cast includes Pat Langille as Fanny, Sadie Fischesser as Mary, Shannon Ward as Alex, and Ryan Buck as Grover, et al. Sam Murphy is the assistant director/stage manager, and the music is by Riley Goodmote.