[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of the Newlywed Widow, written and performed by Beverly Short, part of the Whitefire Theatre’s Solofest 2024.
Beverly Short has adapted her bestselling novel, Newlywed Widow, into this magical solo show and this is her very first performance of it. The Whitefire Theatre’s Solofest seems like the perfect place for her to develop what is a truly remarkable story. Their warmly enveloping theatre always feels like a safe place to me and everyone connected to it has only one agenda – to support storytelling in all forms.
As a young woman, Beverly Short lost her husband of only a few months. A terrible tragedy, but one Beverly had been told would happen. Long ago, as a small child, she looked into a mirror and saw an old woman smiling back at her. As the woman told her that she would be widowed at a very young age, Beverly recognized the woman’s face as her own. But as the years passed, this memory seemed more like a dream she once had and, when she met the man she knew she would marry, her happiness seemed fate proof.
This play version of Beverly Short’s book masterfully explores the possibilities that our lives are predestined. That they are a story already told and one we have only the smallest control over. This perspective is not a fearful one, far from it. If our lives are already set, with all their fascinating twists and turns, then in some ways fear becomes unnecessary, doesn’t it? After all, what is there to be afraid of when what will be will be anyway? It’s sublimely freeing in fact. It allows us to let go of the worry of making the wrong choice, there is no wrong choice…there is only life unfolding.
Beverly takes a deep and profound sadness and lets it lead her rather than rule her. After her husband’s passing she shrugs off the rules and lets her heart lead her. She travels, writes, takes risks and pushes through to her own journey of discovery. It’s a remarkable story told by a remarkable person, wise beyond her years and happy in herself…which is rare.
There’s a vivid depth to Beverly. She’s a deep pool, a wild wood, a quietly magical person whose electrifying and graceful persona lifts you a little…not just out of your seat but our of your tense, stressful, worry-filled ache.
What I loved the most about Newlywed Widow was how completely I believed every single thing Beverly said and after that her story felt like my own and that’s a very special connection for a solo artist to make with her audience. But then this is a very special show indeed.
If you ever have the chance to see Beverly Short’s solo version of her best-selling book, Newlywed Widow, then I urge you to take it. it’s an utterly beautiful and life-affirming performance by a gorgeously talented and inspiring soul.
Bravo!!