Courthouse presents ‘The Tall Boy’ by British playwright Simon Bent

The Courthouse Center for the Arts will present a one-woman play featuring Tandy Cronyn and directed by David Hammond on Friday, January 22 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, January 23 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 and are available at www.courthousearts.org or by calling 782-1018. The direct ticket link is www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2479027.

In the chaotic aftermath of WWII, three orphaned European boys, “G.I. mascots” dumped at a Displaced Persons Camp, are determined to make it “home” to an America they’ve never seen.

“The Tall Boy” tells a compelling story about the fragility and resilience of children in war. In it, three boys, a 15-year-old Czech, a 14-year-old Pole and a 12-year-old Italian have been swept up by American Army units in the final years of WWII and outfitted as GI mascots.  They wear cutdown U.S. Army fatigues, speak English in the accents of the GI’s who “adopted” them and want to follow their units “home” to the U.S.  But as the GIs are being shipped back stateside, the boys are dumped at a children’s Displaced Persons Camp in Bavaria run by an American Relief Team.

The matron of this temporary orphanage is bound by regulations to try to repatriate the children – the United States has yet to open its doors to more than a tiny trickle of refugees – but the boys have their hearts set on America. Only one of the three boys has a GI mentor who is committed to adopting him, but this GI happens to be black and the matron struggles to explain American race relations to the young refugee. In Simon Bent’s dramatization, the story is told by the American matron of the displaced person’s camp for unaccompanied children, and through her eyes we relive the boys’ struggles to find a future for themselves in the aftermath of World War II.

Kay Boyle’s short story, “The Lost,” was originally published in a collection titled Smoking Mountain: Stories of Germany During the Occupation. Tandy acquired the rights and commissioned a stage adaptation from British playwright Simon Bent. The script began development at Guilford College in North Carolina, where David Hammond directed a fully staged reading. The show, by now titled “The Tall Boy,” had its premiere in August 2012 at the University of North Texas, and in the following year was presented by The Clarence Brown Theatre restaged for their Carousel Theatre by Bruch Reed. “The Tall Boy” then played three sold-out performances on Theatre Row on 42 Street in New York City as part of the 2014 United Solo Theatre Festival where it won the Best Adaptation Award and in 2015 played The John Drew Theater at Guild Hall in East Hampton as part of the 2015 JDT Lab new play series.

Tandy Cronyn was born in Los Angeles, raised in New York, and made her professional acting debut in Montreal. She made her Broadway debut as Sally Bowles in the original production of Cabaret, and Off-Broadway she has performed in The Mint Theater’s revival of The Return of the Prodigal (which earned a Drama Desk best revival nomination), the Roundabout Theater’s revival of The Killing of Sister George, and at The Westside Arts Theater in A Shayna Maidel. She has toured nationally in A. R. Gurney’s The Cocktail Hour, Mary Chase’s Harvey and the Stephen Sondheim musical, Company. In 2008, Rhode Island audiences saw her as “Christmas” in The Chorus of Westerly’s A Celebration of Twelfth Night. Ms. Cronyn has performed major classical and contemporary roles in theatres across North America, notably Hartford Stage, Barrington Stage Company, Yale Repertory Theatre, Cleveland Play House, San Diego’s Old Globe and the Denver Center Theater Company.

The Courthouse Center for the Arts, a non-profit community-based arts organization located in West Kingston, was founded in 1989. The group’s mission is to provide to the greater Rhode Island community exceptional arts programs, linked to gallery exhibits, musical performances, theatre productions and educational opportunities. The Courthouse is committed to providing accessible, affordable programming for adults and children, while preserving the 120 year old historic Washington County Courthouse as its home.