by Matt Gunther of John Garcia's The Column

There were some good laughs, some thoughtful nods, and everyone looked as engaged as I was.

"Mind if I… Mind if I sit a spell?"

Who sits a spell anymore? This is certainly not the language of today but of past generations, the time of our parents or grandparents. It is also the opening request of Raleigh Brummett as he points to the empty seat next to May Gill on a train to Kentucky. So begins the journey that will take them across the landscape of their lives as we watch this endearing love story that takes place in three parts during the 1940s and 1950s.

Last Train to Nibroc (Nib' rok) is the first part of a trilogy played in repertory at the Echo Theatre in the Bath House Cultural Center. We follow Raleigh and May from their first meeting on the train to a small town in Kentucky , where lives are simple and unencumbered by all of the distractions of today; where there is no email, IM, or Facebook. It's a place where a porch swing sometimes is the only entertainment around and offers two people a chance to sit and get to know each other a little better.

Raleigh (played by Ian Sinclair) is affable and confident, while May (played by Morgan Justiss) is naïve and opinionated, but sincere. Though strangers on a train thousands of miles from home, they find that they grew up fairly close to each other and know some of the same people. He's on his way to New York to become a writer and she's going back home to Kentucky . She is a small town girl who thinks she needs to marry a pastor so that she can go into the missionary field, and right now she just wants to be left alone. But his charm is undeniable and her edifice begins to crack and soon we're treated to that feeling of anticipation you get when you realize that a connection exists between you and this other person that wasn't there just moments before and you wonder if it's real or just your imagination.

Life is hard though, and World War II claimed dreams as well as lives. When we see May and Raleigh eighteen months later, they are different people. Each has encountered their own hard realities and carries their wounds like emotional scar tissue. And though confrontational, there is hope in their exchange, a hope that what they shared before is still a possibility.

This piece explores the ups and downs of falling in love, the weird path it can sometimes take, how easy it can seem to walk away from, and ultimately how compelling it really is. The language is simple and frank, but it's also light and funny. May and Raleigh do not mince words, which caused me to laugh as well as cringe, to feel the sweetness of the connection, the humiliation of self-doubt, and the wonder of love. Ms. Justiss shows us the depth of May's sincerity and the importance she places in her decisions. She illustrates beautifully the angst of May's uncertainty as a result of some of her choices. Mr. Sinclair infuses Raleigh with charm and wit and humanity. There is likability to him that you just can't deny.

The set design (by Robert McVay) is simple. It's just what this piece needs. Each scene basically has just a bench center stage. It doesn't need any more. The actors and the script carry the story. Throw in a masterful soundtrack (created by Rich Frolich) which imbues the piece with subtle hints of the train, background carnival noises, and night sounds so soft that you almost feel the night air. They enhance the production and complete the story being told.

A nice added touch was in the eight page program. As well as the advertisements, the scene breakdown, and the biographies of the cast and crew, it also contained fun facts and information from the 1940s and 1950s. When these things were mentioned in the production they carried so much more meaning and impact.

Echo Theatre does a nice job with this production. Though the audience was on the smaller size (number not stature) there were some good laughs, some thoughtful nods, and everyone looked as engaged as I was.

Since the show is only 80 minutes long it is presented without an intermission.

The Nibroc Trilogy runs through February 28. Click here for a complete trilogy schedule. Festival passes are $40 and single performance tickets are $15. Purchase tickets online or by e-maling echoreservations@att.net.

The other two shows in the trilogy are:

• See Rock City: picks up a year later and introduces us to May's and Raleigh's mothers. With America’s involvement in the war as a backdrop, May and Raleigh learn about marriage, societal roles and sacrifice.
• Gulf View Drive: set in Florida in 1952 where May and Raleigh are living a post-war dream of career success and home ownership. Tensions rise as Raleigh’s mother and pregnant sister arrive, joining May’s mother in an open-ended visit with the young couple.

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What do you think?