The Milwaukee Chamber Theatre opens their 52nd Season with a compelling drama by local playwright Marie Kohler. And like Boswell at Next Act before this, Kohler proves again to be a very accomplished wordsmith and intriguing story teller. And every word ably moves the story forward.
Kohler has selected a particularly local topic for Maybe We’ll Fly. To many of us of a certain age, Mary Nohl was the inhabitant of the Witch’s House and it was sometimes a right of passage to drive down her street and stare at the myriad of fantastical art works that adorned her home and yard. Of course she wasn’t a witch but she was a reclusive and prolific artist who worked on pieces very much outside the norm, so there were questions. Kohler’s play brings out the human being behind that legend. And her script answers many of the questions that we’ve had over the years. Who was Mary Nohl and why did she work as she did…and Kohler also leaves us with a few more questions as well. So there is in fact some magic here.
There is a single character here: Mary Nohl. But that doesn’t mean that there is a single actor. Kohler is working with the artistic concept of the ages of woman. So there are four actors portraying Nohl, one each named: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. The story is told in a conversational style. Or better yet, conversational styles. But being a single character, there aren’t actual conversations between characters. Instead we only hear one side of a conversation, Mary’s. When in dialogue with another, Kohler fills in enough detail that we understand the issues at hand. Then there are Mary’s conversations with her diary, those moments of talking out loud to herself that we are all familiar with, and then those inner dialogues that we all have in our heads, but here said aloud as well.
And I said that this is a drama…well it is..but there isn’t any shouting or open conflict or door slamming going on. Instead the drama slowly builds up in us as the conversations unfold until Winter starts to repeat some of her opening comments and we come to realize that we have been caught up in a real life drama wrapped up in a thing of beauty.
But how did Kohler’s vision turn into magic on Milwaukee Chamber’s stage? Via the light touch and clear understanding of Nohl’s story and Kohler’s text by director Elizabeth Margolius. Working from an extreme minimal set of just two sturdy but comfortless benches, Margolius winds and unwinds the story.
First we meet Winter, embodied by Leslie Fitzwater. Winter reminisces about moments and decisions in her life, sometimes not with complete accuracy as the play will demonstrate, and bemoans the loss of some of the strength and mobility that she needs to produce her art. At one point she wonders if she can be an artist if she can’t do her art. Fitzwater gives a clear portrayal of someone in just such a quandary and her micro- and macro- gestures and movements embellish the story. And as she takes a moment sitting on her bench in silent thought, Spring appears.
Spring is Nohl in vibrant youth and is played by a very delightful Lainey Techtmann. Techtmann skips and dances and is in awe of the wonder and beauty of the natural environment around her. She also portrays a very observant and curious collector of detritus and natural objects. We can all stop a moment and remember our own pretty stone discoveries as a child. Techtmann as Spring moves around the stage circling Winter who remains seated as she watches her younger self in motion. But Spring’s discoveries and utterances evoke new memories and questions in Winter. I was lucky to see Techtmann in the role. She’s an accomplished young actor. You have hopefully seen her in other roles around Milwaukee including several roles in the Rep’s Christmas Carol. She is alternating as Spring with Amelia Sajdak.
But then as the real seasons go, Spring begets Summer and Spring retreats to a perch on stage left to observe and react. And Emma Rosenthal, elicits a very warm and exciting Summer. Not unlike Spring, Rosenthal’s Summer is just as excited and aware of nature and Nohl’s environment as Spring. And like Spring, Summer dances and exclaims and wonders and questions, but with an obviously more adult bent. Here we really start to feel Nohl’s individualism and independence and Rosenthal gives us those first tastes. .
And then of course, Autumn. Karen Estrada brings us the adulting Mary Nohl, whose independence and determination come to full fruition. Estrada is a calmer more studied Nohl as Autumn but no less curious and engaged as Nohl in her other ages. The format is the same but the concerns of our subject are more serious and more questioning. And there are attempts to reach out and be part of the community at large which go down in flames. But then we return to:
Winter! And all four actors unite for the phantasmagorical closing scene and final examination of a life well lived. I don’t remember for certain, but I believe Winter says at some point, well I am just more interesting than you.
And I mustn’t forget Alicia K. Storin…the cellist who provides the voice to Josh Schmidt’s music and a few other sounds and thumps to highlight the moods and feelings of each scene. And Schmidt also wrote a number of small songs that each of the actors sings that moves and accentuates the story arc.
And thank you to costume designer Karen Simonson Kopischke for dressing the four actors in costumes that fit their age and their role as an artist without actually defining a particular garment or era. And they all seem a logical progression from Spring to Winter.
Maybe We’ll Fly will be performed by The Milwaukee Chamber Theatre from now through October 11, 2026 at the Broadway Theatre Center. Run time: approximately 80 minutes, with no intermission.
Side note: this production is staged in an alley configuration, with audience members seated on two parallel sides, east and west of the playing space.
