Ernest Hemingway, the Nobel Prize-winning author of such classics of American fiction as “The Old Man and the Sea,” “The Sun Also Rises,” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” was famous in his day for his adventurous lifestyle, economical prose, and focus on big game hunting, bullfighting, and heavy drinking.
What did he look like, though, to the women who loved him? A new play written by Hemingway scholar Robert Pushkar examines Hemingway’s life and character through the eyes of the four women he married.
“Most people know of Ernest Hemingway, and many have read at least one book, “The Old Man and the Sea,” taught in most schools in the United States,” Pushkar said. “But not many know the importance of his four wives and the other women who shaped his life by providing inspiration, support, and love.”
A performance reading of Pushkar’s play, “The Four Mrs. Hemingways,” will be held Saturday, June 8, at 2 p.m. at Belmont Town Hall, 455 Concord Ave. After the play, the audience members will be invited to weigh in and provide feedback before the play moves on to the next phase of production.
According to HarborSide president, theater producer, and Belmont native Paul T. Boghosian, the reading, produced by HarborSide Films of Boston, is an opportunity for the creative team to see how it plays before a live audience.
“Hemingway is the iconic writer of the 20th century,” Boghosian said. “Even though we could say he was chauvinistic and a drinker, you have to look at a man in his own time. His wives are important and historical because of their relationship with Hemingway, but each was brilliant in their own way.”
In the play, Hadley Richardson, Pauline Pfeiffer, Martha Gellhorn, and Mary Welsh meet in an imagined dream space. Each confronts her own past, fears, regrets, hopes, and unresolved conflicts while individually interpreting her marriage to the author.
Boghosian said the play’s origin came more than a decade ago, during a dinner at the former Casablanca restaurant in Harvard Square, when Pushkar announced his desire to dramatize the author’s life.
“I said, ‘Bob, there’s been so much written about Hemingway, how do you differentiate?’” Boghosian said. “He said, ‘I’m not going to focus on Hemingway; I’m going to focus on the wives. People are not aware of how accomplished, competent, and wonderful the wives were in their own right.’”
Boghosian, a film and television director, agreed to produce.
“I saw this story as being very female-centric, with the focus on getting the women to interact and talk about themselves and capturing the emotional truth of these relationships,” he said. “We get a good sense of how each wife reacted to their husband. Why did they get involved with Hemingway? Why did they stay with him? What took them apart?”
In addition to the wives, the play features actress Marlene Dietrich, with whom Hemingway corresponded for 27 years, performing songs from her repertoire to underscore the characters’ narrative.
Director Steve Bogart stated, “Robert has written a highly theatrical and imaginative play that gives agency, recognition, and respect to the wives of the deeply complicated Ernest Hemingway. What emerges from the women’s complicated relationships is dignity, integrity, and compassion.”
A talkback with the playwright, director, and cast will follow the performance.
“It is almost market research,” Boghosian said. “We want to get a sense of what the audience feels about certain elements – the flow of the story, whether the creative conceit works, where we need to improve. If we ever win a Tony Award, people can say they were there at the beginning.”
Tickets for “The Four Mrs. Hemingways” are available at the door, with a suggested $25 donation. To reserve your space, please contact HarborSide Films at 617-484-9539. For more information, please visit harborsidefilmsBoston.com/