From Sept. 22 to Oct. 1, Villanova Theatre is showing Julia Izumi’s “Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea,” at the Court Theatre in the John and Joan Mullen Performing Arts Center. The performers consist of eight talented graduate theatre students, and this play was directed by James Ijames.
“Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea” tells the story of a little rain cloud (Emily Mosset) who falls down to Earth and becomes love-struck by a human, Ralmond (Nathan Trementozzi). The issue, however, is that Ralmond is already in a loving relationship with Midi (Noelle Diane Johnson). Bessie the cow (Emma Drennen) is a trusting friend to Rain Cloud as they ponder her feelings about love and how to win Ralmond over. In the meantime, Edvard (Cas Corum), a desperate prince, pursues Ina (Sydnet E. Curran), who is stubborn and rejects his advances. Loosely based on “The Little Mermaid”, the play is narrated by Dolan (Eve Windbiel), who resembles Hans Christian Andersen, and the author’s own conflicts are woven into the story, giving a never-before-seen glimpse into his tumultuous relationships. By the end of the play, Little One (Zainab Warda Jeffrey) has been inspired by Andersen, and any confusion that may have been caused by the varying storylines finally makes sense.
“The art and process of adaptation [of “Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea”] have long been close to my heart, so I love that the show is both an adaptation of “The Little Mermaid” and an examination of Hans Christian Andersen,” production dramaturg Dory Scott said. “I find the writing beautiful as it is stuffed full of both humor and heart. It is a play that welcomes all audiences, whether a scholar, theatre-lover or someone who wandered in.”
Most notably, the sudden switches onstage between Rain Cloud’s attempts to “woo” Ralmond and flashbacks from Andersen’s life kept the audience on their toes, excitedly awaiting plot developments within the multiple storylines occurring in the play.
The incorporation of specific plot points unique to “The Little Mermaid” was a sentimental reminder to the fairytale, though the storyline of “Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea” was most certainly distinctive.
“It is different from “The Little Mermaid” because, while it follows the same general story beats of the fairy tale, the ending is not a ‘happy ever after’ or a ‘Grimm’ reckoning of all the character’s faults, but rather an entirely new perspective on the ending of the original story,” Scott said.
Throughout these multiple storylines, the innocence and hopefulness of Rain Cloud, combined with the cautious, but interested nature of Ralmond, keeps audience members’ interest piqued and encourages them to cheer her on.
“Rain Cloud is the embodiment of pure, unhindered joy, love and light,” Mosset said. “There is a thoughtful, powerful and quite literal, weightless quality to her that has been such a blast to explore and play with…Perhaps the biggest take away from this role is how can we all find the time and space to lift up, or gaze up, in wonder and light, for ourselves and for others, even when we are just so tired or distracted from our day to day lives.”
Rain Cloud is able to explore the complexity of human relationships throughout her interactions with other characters, and audience members are able to learn valuable lessons from her optimism and perseverance.
The goal of the play was to “affirm our need for ever-new fables in an ever-changing world,” according to the playbill, and “Sometimes the Rain, Sometimes the Sea” did just that. Minimally basing it upon “The Little Mermaid” but creating an entirely different plot along with brand new characters allowed those who are familiar with the latter to imagine a slightly similar, but unique and thought-provoking story with entirely new possibilities.
