Lies and consequences: ‘The Children’s Hour’ at Albuquerque Little Theatre, a 1930s parable for a post-truth world

A 12-year-old student at an all-girls boarding school spreads a rumor about the two teachers in charge of the school. The consequences of that rumor unfold over the course of three acts in “The Children’s Hour,” a classic 1934 drama that opens at Albuquerque Little Theatre on Friday, Jan. 30.

Despite the title, it is not a kid’s play.

“It’s a play about the power of a lie,” Marc Comstock, director, said. “It’s about how we react to a lie. If something sounds plausible, we tend not to look for evidence. But what responsibility do we have in vetting a lie that comes from a child? And what does it say about this child that she sees how powerful this lie is, and that she weaponizes it to get what she wants?”

Comstock’s 14-person cast is headed by Stephanie Grilo and Aleah Montano, who play the two main teachers, Karen Wright and Martha Dobie; William Berg, plays Wright’s fiancé, Dr. Joseph Cardin; and Belle Hughson, plays the gossip mongering student, Mary Tilford.

“I’ve worked with Aleah many times. She brings great emotional truth to everything she does,” Comstock said. “And Stephanie, I’ve been a big fan of for a long time, but this is the first time I’ve gotten to work with her directly. … She has a kind of stage clarity and strength.”

“Then, Bill Berg, who plays Joe — he’s one of those actors who just brings this very natural ease to the character,” Comstock said, “and then a new actress to me, Belle, plays Mary Tilford, the young girl. She showed up at the audition to read … and stood out as this kid who could be both charming and sweet, but with that element of underlying mischievousness and darkness. I was really surprised by her acting maturity.”

Hughson, 16, is four years older than the character she portrays.

“So, it’s nice that she has some life experience, which you want with all actors, but she can play young,” Comstock said.

Comstock credits scenic designer Lauren Dusek Albonico and costume designer Rachel Capener with making the 1930s-era setting believable.

“Lauren Albanico … created this very versatile set, where, with just a few tweaks, we can jump from the schoolyard to the Tilford home … and we have some period wallpaper, so you’ll know exactly what era you’re in,” Comstock said. “Then Rachel, who did our costumes … the costumes align with who these characters are, but also with the setting of the 1930s. Their clothes are durable, because people didn’t have a lot of different outfits, but what they had were things they worked in and socialized in and took good care of. So, they have this real lived-in but sturdy quality.”

“The Children’s Hour” was written and set over 90 years ago when American society was even more patriarchal than it is today.

“Women couldn’t have credit cards,” Comstock said, “and the fact that these two women were teachers — which was one of the professions that they could do — and they had their own school (meant that they) had some success and some autonomy. But there was still a price to pay for that.”

The playwright, Lillian Hellman, is often considered a proto-feminist for her depictions of independent-minded female characters, forced to navigate restrictive and hostile social environments.

Besides its feminist themes, Comstock thinks “The Children’s Hour” offers a commentary on the politicization of truth that remains relevant today.

“It’s a kind of allegory for how things are today, where truth isn’t trusted, and lies become weaponized, and we start to lose that discernment of looking for the truth ourselves,” Comstock said.

Comstock likened “The Children’s Hour” to other dramas that deal with truth and uncertainty, including the 1954 teleplay “Twelve Angry Men” and the 2004 stage play “Doubt: A Parable.” In all three works, the characters’ willingness to believe or disbelieve truth claims is influenced by their own belief systems, which are often biased.

“How do we form those biases, and then how do we unlearn them when we realize that the thing we think is a truth is a lie, or a nontruth?” he said.

Comstock mentioned that the explosion of AI video content in recent years is making it even more difficult to know what is true.

“It’s getting harder and harder to discern truth from lies,” he said. “So, (the play) is just as relevant today as it was then.”

Logan Royce Beitmen is an arts writer for the Albuquerque Journal. He covers visual art, music, fashion, theater and more. Reach him at lbeitmen@abqjournal.com or on Instagram at @loganroycebeitmen.