Ruth Tyndall Baker can tell you what her new play, “A Christmas Key,” is not about.
It is not a goofy Christmas satire featuring Santa drunk, doing a miserable rendition of the Macarena at an office party in front of the punch bowl.
“It's a play with guts,” she says. “And I'm proud of that.”
By “guts” she means her play tackles head-on the emotional, psychological and spiritual issues that many families face every day that seem to surface all at once during the holidays. All for One productions will present the play beginning Friday night in the auditorium of the downtown Allen County Public Library.
Margaret Murphy, the main character, is afraid she will be utterly alone this Christmas. Not only is her husband deceased, but her memory is fading, and now her daughter Pauline is going to California on business rather than celebrating the holiday with her. For comfort, Margaret clings to memories of Christmas on her family farm.
Although Margaret is devastated, this is not a “downer play,” promises Baker. There are tense moments, but the “real beauty” lies in the characters' ability to work out their anger, guilt and learn forgiveness. This process is part of the “key.”
Baker believes that “all families are dysfunctional to a different degree.”
“We can all relate to this play,” she says. “I intended this to be an uplifting play. Forgiveness in this family is one of the main themes. Once this family can forgive each other, they can embrace the joy of Christmas. I wanted to tell a good story. I wanted to retell the story of Christmas using these modern characters.”
The play itself is rooted in Baker's experiences growing up on her family farm and caring for her mother as she aged.
“I felt that generational purpose that many people feel,” Baker says. “I wanted to return to my mother's roots. Today in theater, you have all kinds of works dedicated specifically to each culture, whether it's African-American, gay, children's theater, etc. My mother's culture was an agrarian society where people made their own food and worked exceptionally hard. That was my focus.”
Baker also draws inspiration from writer Henry David Thoreau.
The subtext of her play is that humans do not completely understand things that happen to them in life because God might want it this way, she explains. Nature appears to be simple on the surface, yet is complex on many levels. Baker used Thoreau's writings in her play because they help her express her thoughts and feelings about God and nature.
One example is the Thoreau quote, “The sun is but a morning star.”
“In ‘A Christmas Key,' stars are powerful symbols, used to represent the passing of time,” says Baker. “Stars guided the Wise Men in the original Christmas story. They also guide Margaret and help her reflect on her memory of life.”
