Marcia Savin
25 minute romantic comedy
1 man, 1 woman
As an attractive woman in her 60s moves into a senior apartment complex, she’s welcomed by a tenant from a park bench. He offers a “warmish” toddy from his thermos, explaining he’s toasting his departed friend. They sip and banter in the chilly air. Death makes her think on life and on what really matters. For her, it’s her memories. He quips that he tries to forget everything. She tells of her one great love — her long-absent husband — and how that memory sustained her through some hard times. He jokes and scoffs at the notion of “great love”. As she describes what made this man so special, he starts looking uneasy. They hear a street musician’s saxophone. He suggests they dance…
Do these two share a past? Does she really remember life as it was? Can lost love be recovered?
This play is found in the collection, New Plays for Mature Actors.
See other plays by Marcia Savin: Can I Put You on Hold, Sunny Room in Charming House, and Special Screening Today
Playwright, Marcia Savin, writes:
When I wrote Just a Song at Twilight 30 years ago, the last thing I imagined was that someday I’d reconnect with someone special I knew 40 years ago — just like my characters. Their scenario, of course, was very different. The Michael I met again last year (yes, same name!), unlike Mike in the play, was a devoted husband and father. And we were friends, nothing more. But there was a bond … here’s the story:
In the 70s, I moved to New York from California for my husband’s job. I didn’t know a soul. I remembered Michael as a warm, funny guy I knew in Berkeley in the 60s. We were both in our 20s, married, and shared a love of language and literature. He’d moved East with his young family, to teach. I called the school but he was no longer there, plus I’d lost his address. Off and on, over the years, I thought of him, but had no idea where he was. On top of that, I’d forgotten his last name. That seemed to be that. But decades later, after my marriage ended, I found him. I was going through old journals, tearing out anything I’d written in anger about my children — in case I died suddenly — when I came across Michael’s name — first and last. I went to the Web and there he was, in Jersey, across the river. I wrote. He called two days later. We talked for an hour. He said his wife had died years earlier. He suggested dinner. And … we’ve been together ever since.
It’s not the play’s scenario. But it is a bit eerie…
Hear the comments of actors…
“Thank you for writing such a beautiful script. It was a pleasure being in the show.”
— Bob Berry, Epilogue Theatre, Indianapolis, IN
“Thank you for writing such a beautiful story creating such wonderful, complex and human characters.”— Cheryl Fesmire, Epilogue Theatre, Indianapolis, IN
….and directors
“I was most impressed with the depth and sensitivity of this delightful play about the live and loves of two senior citizens.”— Tavis Ross, Director, Go Like 60, San Diego Repertory Theatre, San Diego, CA
Just a Song at Twilight was the inspiration and catalyst for “Go Like 60”— the San Diego Repertory Theatre’s Senior Citizens Theatre Company. The production so impressed a patron that she presented the company with a $4,000 grant to continue the work with senior actors and audiences.
Honors and Productions for Just a Song at Twilight:
Awards
- Honorable Mention, John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award, 1977-78
- American Theatre Association’s “Best New Play for Senior Adult Theatre,” 1983
Productions
- The Quaigh Theater, NY, NY; Equity Library Theater “Informals”, NY, NY; Samuel French Best Short Plays Festival, NY, NY; San Diego Repertory, San Diego, CA;
- Equity Library Theater, Chicago, IL; Epilogue Players, Indianapolis, Indiana;
- Greenville Hilton Dinner Theater, Greenville, NC; and over fifty amateur productions in the U.S. and Canada
Marcia Savin, now a senior citizen, wrote Just a Song at Twilight in her thirties. She explains the inspiration: “After a hectic day of teaching, I would unwind at a Dairy Queen where seniors hung out. I’d listen to them flirt and banter. What struck me was how people’s feelings never change. No matter how old we are, we still want friendship, admiration, love, satisfaction.”
