with meWaltz
Bringing the Story of Cornelia to Life on Stage By Diane Samuels
I first came across the remarkable story of the life, marriage and pioneering work of Cornelia Connelly when it was told to me by my neighbour, Ghislaine Kenyon (née Latham‐Koenig, Class of 1969). I was immediately compelled, listened with rapt attention, gasped more than a few times, and was on the edge of my seat untill the end. This story was all the more powerful for being true and seemed already to be finding its way into dramatic life merely in the telling.
In those first few moments Waltz With Me was born.
Why waltz? Well, one of the early students describes in a letter how, if a girl was ever playing at the piano and Cornelia happened to enter the room, she could not help but sweep the nearest student off
her feet into a waltz. And so music, waltzes in particular, infuse the action of the play.
Researching over the last few years has been quite an adventure, brimming with surprises, strange coincidences and fascinating discoveries. I was raised in a Jewish tradition and had little knowledge about the church and what it meant to be a nun. So I listened and learned what I could, helped most generously by sisters belonging to the Society, with Ghislaine in the role of consultant and guide.
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Especially significant was my first visit to Mayfield School one wintry Ash Wednesday. Being led to the Chapel to visit my first ever Catholic service, I passed by photographs on the wall of a student production of my play Kindertransport, inspired by the true-life experiences of Jewish child refugees before and during World War 2. Cornelia’s commitment to the arts as a hugely important and integral part to education, particularly drama and live theatre, rings strongly for me too.
I also realised that day that Waltz With Me is in some ways a surprising sequel to Kindertransport, picking up the theme of mother/child separation and taking it further, to a place of acceptance and restitution. The play integrates actual life- story with fiction. Weaving through Cornelia’s story, is the experience of a modern female character, Aggie, herself an ex-student of Mayfield, whose own acrimonious divorce leads to estrangement from her children. As she struggles to deal with the split she finds herself turning in prayer to Mother Connelly, and it is their unfolding relationship across time and space that brings alive questions of loss, love and the nature of our relationship with the Divine.
Thanks to invaluable support from students and staff at Mayfield over the last few years, the early drafts were workshopped and read at the school. Since then, a 2 producer has come on board, along with a director. Generous donations towards mounting the world premiere have given a great boost to our fundraising campaign which is now beginning in earnest.
The Old Cornelian SUMMER 2017
Visiting the The Liberty Bell Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
I have just returned from a trip to Philadelphia and New York with Ghislaine, where we made presentations and aired extracts from the latest draft to associates, members of the Society, students and alumnae in the United States.
My understanding of what it means to be married, to bear and lose children, to take up a path of spiritual devotion have been enriched by discovering about Cornelia. My commitment to the need for the arts to be central to the education of the whole person has been deepened by writing this play. My heart and life are bigger and better for it. In a world where different belief systems often regard each other with incredulous hostility, I am glad to make a contribution to the exploration of the power of faith. I hope that all who come to see Waltz With Me will have their eyes opened, hearts moved and minds expanded in unexpected ways too.
OC
TO FIND OUT MORE about Waltz With Me go to:
http://www.waltzwithmeplay.comPhotos Kenyon/Samuels
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