A preview audience was enchanted by The Butler Little Theater's opening of "Enchanted April" by Matthew Barber from Elizabeth von Arnim's 1921 best selling novel. It was a wonderful spring romp expertly written and well delivered by a talented cast.

Two frustrated London housewives, Lotty Wilton and Rose Arnott, played by Kate Wallace and Marianne Zimmerly, decide to rent a villa in Italy for a holiday from their bleak marriages. They invite two other ladies, Caroline Bramble and Mrs. Graves, played by Monica Filippone and Marge Bankert, to join them in their escape.

Wallace was amazing with her exuberance and her infectious enthusiasm. Her energetic performance exhausted those around her but in the end all were affected by her vision of the vacation and the life-changing experience that it could be.

Her first victim was Zimmerly, whose character, hardened by years of grief and loss, fell captive under the Italian Sun. Wallace reeled her in and held her captive until she freed herself from herself.

Woven into the sisterhood were two widows with different stories but with the same loss. The beautiful Filippone graced the stage with her sullen beauty. She played the recluse socialite with ease.

Bankert was on the top of her game most of the night playing the exasperated widow who wanted nothing to do with change or forward thinking until she joined this band of women.

Waiting on the ladies hand and foot was Costanza, played by Susan Sontum, who got to show her comedic side in a different language. Sontum was hysterical and though she spoke no English, the audience knew exactly what she was thinking.

The husband of Zimmerly was played by David Deal, who seemed quite comfortable in the roll of self-absorbed writer and eventually rescued husband. Deal seems to easily move from intensity to frivolity effortlessly.

Wallace's husband was played by the sweet Aaron Willoughby, who did his best to seem stern and dictatorial but shone most when he melted after his big blast. Willoughby, a versatile actor, was believable in this middle age role.

Also in the play is Travis Bell who graciously took on the role of Antony Wilding, the owner of the retreat castle and a complex artisan who was also recovering from loss. This last-minute addition did surprisingly well for the limited amount of rehearsal time he had.

Meals did a superb job of casting, blocking and getting the actors to maintain their pace. The scene where the ladies tell their spouses of their plans was masterful. The repartee and the timing were most complex and very effective.

The story is a fun tale of the finding of things lost and the healing of deep wounds when strangers become friends and a garden becomes enchanted where the tending of souls takes place.