North of Boston, the Agawam Diner is legendary; everyone has a story to tell about it. Playwright Joshua Faigen is no exception … but the story he has to tell is exceptional indeed.
The award-winning Newburyport playwright’s new play, which is set entirely inside the Agawam Diner one mysterious wintry night, will be presented by The Actors Studio of Newburyport, at The Tannery, 50 Water Street, Mill #1, in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Performances are April 8 through 25: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 5pm. Tickets are $15 ($13 for Seniors and Students). Space is limited so reservations are strongly encouraged. Call (978) 465-1229 or visit www.newburyportacting.org.
The production is supported by a generous grant from The Harpley Foundation.
Directed by Stephen Haley, The Agawam lures us gently into a quiet but oddly mysterious wintry evening at the Agawam Diner. A few of the regulars are lounging about … and a few irregulars as well. You might need a scorecard, though. The guy playing his beat-up old tuba to pay for his meal is actually one of the real-world regulars. Jesús, however, is not the real-world night cook, nor does the real-world night cook swear with the florid eloquence of a Spanish brigand. The waitress and her cashier are real enough, both biding their time wondering when the snow will arrive and what life might have been like had they made different choices. That’s when Sully, the vagabond Willy Loman-type philosopher, wanders in. And the mysterious stranger, the Man of God. And, finally a nameless Old Man with his Girlfriend-for-a-Day. And, finally, arrives the mysterious stranger, the Man of God. People drink coffee. They eat pie. Someone dies. A miracle happens, maybe two. Then everyone’s life shifts a few degrees in a better direction. Or maybe not.
Like the carefully crafted words of the Mr. Faigen’s story, the setting of the play is no accident either. The Agawam Diner, built by the Fodero Dining Car Company of Bloomfield NJ, known for their stainless steel exteriors and art deco appearance, is literally a National Treasure listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The current Rowley diner replaced the original diner owned by the Galanis family in Ipswich's Depot Square in 1954. Moved twice in 1967, first to Peabody and then to its current location in Rowley, the Agawam Diner remains a family business to this day. One gets the feeling it will be here long after we all have moved on. The name remains a bit mysterious too. “Agawam” was the name that Native Americans gave to this area around Ipswich. It supposedly meant "lowland, marsh or meadow with water." (Some would say “swamp.”) Here they hunted and caught fish, especially shellfish, leaving behind mounds of shells. Captain John Smith of Pocahontas fame wrote about the region in 1614, referring to it as "an excellent habitation, being a good and safe harbour." A plague of about 1617, perhaps smallpox brought from abroad, devastated the once populous Indian tribe.
But there was another Agawam, a Native American village originally sited on the west bank of the Connecticut River. It was known as Agawam, also Agawanus, Aggawom, Agawom, Onkowam, Igwam, and Auguam. It was thought to mean "unloading place" or "fishcuring place," perhaps in reference to fish at Agawam Falls being unloaded from canoes for curing on the flats at the mouth of the Westfield River. This harkens back to the days when Great Neck and Little Neck in Ipswich were first designated as areas for fishermen to stake out their fish to dry in the sun. But no definitive origin of the name has been established.
The Agawam is a play, a diner, a crossroads in space and time, a place where some lives are miraculously changed and others continue as they were. How will it affect you? Find out first hand at The Actors Studio of Newburyport. Performances are at The Tannery, 50 Water Street, Mill #1, in Newburyport. Performances are April 8 through 25. Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 5pm. Tickets are $15 ($13 for Seniors and Students). Space is limited so reservations are strongly encouraged. For more information call (978) 465-1229 or visit www.newburyportacting.org.
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