By TR Robertson Photos by Aaron Rumley
Award winning playwright Noah Haidle’s “Birthday Candles” is currently on stage at Solana Beach’s North Coast Repertory Theatre. “Birthday Candles” is a heart warming and funny play that will leave you flooded with memories of your own family’s history of traditions, conversations, personal issues and people in your life. The play centers around a woman’s life, especially on her birthday, beginning with her mother’s tradition of baking a specific cake for her birthday. Taking place in the kitchen, we see her life unfold beginning at age 17 as she is preparing to audition for the main role in a “King Lear” play adaptation called “Queen Lear”, all the way to her final memories at age 107. The quick 90-minute play is loaded with a presentation of one family’s traditions, accomplishments, hardships, struggles, dreams, grief, family growth and changes over the years all centered around the kitchen and one particular custom, the baking of a birthday cake. All of this is shown by an amazing 6-person cast, many playing multiple roles throughout the play. “Birthday Candles” opened in the American Airlines Theatre in April of 2022. It was originally commissioned by the Detroit Public theatre in 2016.
Craig Noel Award winning actor Margot White plays Ernestine Ashworth. She is superb as she never leaves the stage, emotionally portraying the changes she and the family go through throughout the years. Following the tradition her mother started to bake a specific birthday cake, Ernestine recreates the same birthday cake each year, changing the scenes as she ages from age 17 to 107. Along the way we see a variety of family members who will play roles making significant changes in her life. Some of these changes are powerful and capable of bringing tears to the audience’s eyes. Changes like dealing with family mental issues, dealing with the death of a child, dealing with divorce both personally and within the family, dealing with caring for family members suffering both mentally and physically, all issues audience members will identify with. One recurring event on stage is the appearance of a goldfish named Atman, a gift from a childhood friend, Kenneth. Atman, representing souls of a new life, will remain on stage as a number of Atman’s will be referenced as they are continually being replaced as they pass away. Making his debut on the NC Rep Stage is Martin Kildare, who portrays Ernestine’s husband Matt and later in the play great-grandson William. Martin presents Matt as an emotionally guarded individual, a man who is hard to read exactly what he is feeling. This will play out later in the play when he drops a bomb shell on Ernestine after 35 years of marriage.
An audience favorite is James Newcomb’s portrayal of childhood friend Kenneth. Kenneth is a little goofy, very funny and a person who at first appearance will not figure into Ernestine’s life, but you will see how that changes in later years. You never know what life has in store for you and Kenneth shows this. Kenneth’s remembrance of Ernestine’s portrayal of Queen Lear in her teen years and a particular quote from the play will surface much later in the life of Kenneth and Ernestine. Matthew Grodin plays son Billy and John, a grandson. Billy goes through some of the biggest changes in the family’s dynamic. Katie Karel played multiple roles of Alice/Madeline and Erine. As daughter Alice, she does a caring job of presenting a young lady going through multiple changes, including changing her name, and slowly falling into depression and dealing with mental issues. Emelie O’Hara also portrays multiple roles of Joan, Alex and Beth. As the neurotic Joan, who is the girlfriend of Billy and will marry him, she is amazing. You have a hard time wondering why Billy would marry someone like Joan, but as they say, there is someone for everyone. Does a lot of this sound familiar to you and your family. If so, you get the point of what the play is saying and representing.
In researching the play, this reviewer came on some interesting trivia about birthdays. For example, the lighting of candles around birthdays dates back to both Greece and Germany. Candles were said to honor deities and bring wishes of luck to life. In Greece, they honored the goddess Artemis, who is mentioned in the play. They also symbolize the joy and sweetness of life. The blowing out of the candles in one breath and making a silent wish represents releasing the smoke that would carry the wishes or prayers. For others it represents warding off evil spirits. In Germany, round cakes would be made on birthdays to hold the candles. There the candles represented moonlight. As Ernestine bakes what will be a round cake, she must be thinking about what prayers or wishes she wants for her life.
The Creative Team for the production, assisting Director David Ellenstein, included Stage Manager Phil Gold, Set Designer Marty Burnett, Light Designer Matthew Novotny, Costume Designer Danita Lee, Sound Designer Ian Scot, Props Designer Michael Wogulis and Production Assistant Victoria Hua. The stage set of the kitchen was beautifully designed and a perfect example of a typical kitchen in a middle-class home.
“Birthday Candles” is a quickly paced look into the life of one woman, but you will be able to see it could be the life of your neighbor, your best friend, a family member, your life or anyone else. Ernestine begins the play believing she will be a rebel, making changes in the world. Later in her life she wonders if she has made a difference or if she has wasted her life. As she and Kenneth share their favorite line from her “Queen Lear” play; “So we’ll live and pray and sing and tell old tales and laugh at gilded butterflies” wondering if they have been able to do this. Ernestine does share some adventures she has had like walking the streets of St. Germain in Paris, making it to Base Camp next to Mt. Everest and alluding to an encounter with a flamingo dancer in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
This is a play everyone will identify with and well worth seeing. The play will be at North Coast Repertory Theatre until June 29th. Tickets are available at www.northcoastrep.org
