The Hatchet Hour

This sounds like one of the coolest teachers ever. It is perfectly amazing that in order to give the cast a better understanding of the Lizzie Borden case before they performed Ed Valentine’s new play (Lizzie: The Hatchet Hour), that production historian Tim Oliveira took them to Fall River and immersed them in the reality of things. I bet the students and the play was better for it! Three cheers for Tim Oliveira and Mr. Valentine!

From the Spring 2006 issue of Adelphi Update for Community College Students, Faculty, and Administrators:

Adelphi Performing Arts students learned more than their lines for the recent production of Lizzie: or The Hatchet Hour, a Black Box performance representing playwright Ed Valentine’s fascination with the life of Lizzie Borden, who was accused and later acquitted of the gruesome, and to this date unsolved, 1892 murder of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts.

Last fall, in preparation for the performance, production historian Tim Oliveira, a performing arts major and Fall River native, brought some cast members to the Borden home. The murder scene is now a historical site (and for those so inclined to sleep at the scene of the crime, it’s a bed and breakfast by night). The home provided a real link for the Adelphi actors preparing for their roles in Lizzie. Jen Stephens, who played Lizzie, and Meaghan Wade, cast as her stepmother Abby (stabbed multiple times), enjoyed a grand tour of the premises led by Borden Home historian Edward Thibault, who dressed and played the part of slain father Andrew J. Borden. Suffolk County Community College graduate and transfer student John Cabrera brought this role to life in Adelphi’s production.

For a more in-depth understanding of the play’s Victorian setting, Tim Oliveira continued the tour of the former mill town of Fall River and the Oak Grove Cemetery, where several Bordens, prominent members of this New England community, are buried. Lizzie’s grave is so popular that a path of black arrows leads to the tombstone. Tim, himself a Lizzie aficionado, noted that of the six headstones for members of Lizzie’s immediate family, all have their initials only except for the one marked “Lizbeth,” Lizzie’s pseudonym following the trial.

These are exciting times for Adelphi University and New York University playwright Ed Valentine. Adelphi’s production of Lizzie: or The Hatchet Hour has been nominated for the John Cauble Short Play Award and the Mark David Cohen National Playwriting Award, both sponsored by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Adelphi students Jen Stephens as Lizzie and Kiki Snodgrass as the Borden maid Bridget also received critical acclaim for their roles. Both were nominated for the Irene Ryan Candidacy, a competition and award in association with The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, the finalist to be announced in April. Accolades and accomplishments abound.

Adelphi’s staging of the premiere production of Ed Valentine’s story was an important dramatic visualization for the playwright; and the performing arts students were able to apply theatrical academics in the disciplines of dramaturgy, acting, and stage design. Playwright and players gained from a collaborative association.

Here is a complete PDF copy of the Spring 2006 newsletter.