A Heartwarming Story in the Moonlight

Selena Milewski as Bessie Johnson in Give Me Moonlight at Waukesha Civic Theatre. Photo credit: Andy Holley.

A review of Give Me Moonlight

by Ellie Wilhelm, age 16

Give me Moonlight, a sincere and emotional play directed by Sandra Renick, was put on by the Waukesha Civic Theatre from April 14-26. The play was set in the 1910s and followed a married pair, Bessie and Albert, and their fight to improve their marriage as they struggled through issues like grief and infertility. I found myself being so captivated in the play and the story it displayed; it was so beautiful to watch! Many aspects about the production contributed to achieving this, including the lighting, the usage of the stage, and the acting style.

The production of Give me Moonlight was performed in WCT’s Black Box space. The stage there is very small, with an audience of around 70 seats. As a result, it can be difficult to portray different locations, time periods, and movements. However, the team that made the play happen excelled at overcoming all these obstacles. For one, they sought to create lighting that complemented the small stage and assisted to guide the audience to know what was going on. The light designer, Breanne Brennan, designed the lighting to be a greenish hue for dreams and dimmer for flashbacks to easily distinguish the difference between all these aspects. Since the space is small, these could not take place in different parts of the stage, and would have been difficult to understand without the assistance of the lighting.

Director Sandra Renick did an amazing job utilizing the small stage’s potential! Every inch of it was utilized to create a full effect. For instance, the bed placed on the far side of the stage was constantly used to distinguish a different room in the house. In addition, the set pieces did not really get moved around much at all during the show, but it was still easy to tell where the characters were. 

Give me Moonlight also was very memorable for the realistic and incredible acting. Something unique about the play is that it was only a four-person cast: Selena Milewski (Bessie), Tom Aldridge (Albert), Bradley Tremblay (Scotty), and Emily Keiner (Jack). Despite the cast being small, it sure was mighty! Every single one of the actors nailed the early 1900s feel, through their posture, actions, and the way they spoke. I truly felt as though I was transported to the actual time! Furthermore, their acting felt so realistic. Someone who really stood out to me was Selena Milewski. She did such a phenomenal job portraying a woman grieving infertility and trying to get through to her husband. Her acting style felt very real and it was so amazing to watch from the audience. I also found that there were never any gaps of dead space–even if it was silent for 30 seconds, everyone onstage was always doing something or expressing themselves, and that is something that truly set this play to the next level.

All in all, every aspect of Give me Moonlight made it high-quality and encapsulating. Waukesha Civic Theatre never fails to put on performances just as amazing as this! The theatre just announced their new season, and they have so many more great shows in store.