ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, March 8, 1996 TAG: 9603080012
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: MAUREEN HEALY STAFF WRITER
"You're overdrawn!" Michael bellows. "Again!"
"You chew in your sleep," Agnes says matter-of-factly.
"What?" Michael asks.
"You chew in your sleep," she repeats.
The overdrawn bank account momentarily forgotten, Michael tries to regain his dignity with an emphatic, "I do not!"
But Agnes won't let it go at that. She smacks her lips together in a perfect imitation of the offending sound that keeps her awake at night.
The two squabble between tender moments in "I Do, I Do," a two-person play that reveals the story of Michael and Agnes' 50-year marriage.
Local actors Steve Brown and Clare Fischer-Davies bring to life the shy, young couple whose marriage grows into a partnership filled with family, career and personal struggles that, over the years, make the bond between them even stronger.
In the course of "I Do, I Do," Michael must face the fact that his widely read novels don't transform him into the great novelist he aspires to be, while Agnes despairs that she will "die behind the stove like a domestic animal."
Brown and Fischer-Davies deliver convincing performances as they face life's little quirks - and big moments - together, from the humorous loss of Michael's socks to the birth of their first child.
Having made it through a half-century of life together, Michael and Agnes recount the memories they have shared in their first and only home before turning it over to its new, young owners.
Both performers say that there are similarities between themselves and the characters they portray.
Brown says he can see himself in Michael, for example, when he buys things for his wife that he would like more than she would.
"I'm a little guilty of that," Brown admits.
Fischer-Davies identifies with Agnes as she nags her husband about little nothings in the song "Nobody's Perfect."
Brown, an established performer in the New River Valley, has been in several area productions including last summer's "Fiddler on the Roof" and Virginia Tech's "Bells Are Ringing." As the choir director for St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Christiansburg, he has written scores of original music for band and orchestra.
Fischer-Davies is another familiar face to local audiences. In addition to playing Golde in "Fiddler on the Roof," she was the soprano soloist for the Blacksburg Master Chorale's performance of "Messiah" in December and she is the rector of Christ Church in Blacksburg.
"I Do, I Do," marks the music directorial debut of Ken Mulzet, a Tech graduate student. Mulzet is a local pianist who has appeared with the New River Valley Symphony and the Charlotte Symphony. He has recorded with Tech and Roanoke College students.
The play runs tonight and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Virginia Tech's Haymarket Theater. It is a fund-raiser for the New River Valley Hospice, a nonprofit community organization that provides patient care to the terminally ill. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $8 for senior citizens, students and children.
All proceeds will go directly into hospice-sponsored programs, said Hospice Director Barbara Green.
This is the first time the hospice has used a play as a fund-raiser.
"Clare and Steve had been looking for an organization to benefit. It was the perfect match at the perfect time," Green said.
Fischer-Davies suggested the play when Bhanu Iyengar, executive director at the hospice, mentioned how hard it is to come up with fund-raising ideas.
"I've done a lot of different musical acts for fund-raisers before but they take a lot of coordination because they involve so many people," Fischer-Davies said. "I thought 'I Do, I Do' would be easier to put on because it's only two people."
If the play is successful, the hospice will continue to use similar projects as fund-raisers.
"We plan to become more affiliated with the arts in the future," Green said.
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Steve Brown and Clare Fischer-Davies share a tenderby CNBmoment in "I Do, I Do."