Laura Fois, left to right, Andrew Albigese, and Matt Higgins star in “Broad Channel,” a play that is set in the South Queens neighborhood and currently being performed by the UP Theater Company in Manhattan. Photo by Martha Granger
During the years James Bosley spent living in Broad Channel, he always believed the tight-knit, coastal neighborhood with a strong sense of community would be the perfect backdrop for a play – but he “just didn’t have a story.”
“Then I read about a piece of Judaica that had been found and brought back to Europe to the grandchildren of the original owner,” Bosley said of the news that inspired his play, “Broad Channel.” “They told all about how much art is being recovered and returned. It was found in the home of an American veteran, but it didn’t say anything more about that side of the story. I wanted to hear that side.”
With that in mind, Bosley, who grew up in South Queens, began working several years ago on “Broad Channel,” which is being performed by UP Theater Company and will end its run this weekend.
Set in the South Queens neighborhood, the play tells the story of a painting that has been in a Broad Channel family’s house since World War II. Believing the painting to be the driving force behind his recovery after being wounded during the Second World War, the play’s grandfather takes the piece of art home with him to Queens.
Two generations later, a relative of the soldier is laid off, and, facing being on disability and the costs associated with a teenage son going off to college, the man and his family decide to see if the painting is worth anything – only to discover it was stolen from a victim of the Holocaust.
“They realize it’s worth a lot more than they thought, authorities are alerted, and the European family that originally owned it comes to claim it,” Bosley said.
As the families debate what to do with the painting, the nuances and intricacies of familial relations become a major theme in the production, which is being performed by the theater company that was co-founded by Bosley.
Growing up throughout South Queens, including Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park, Bosley long knew about Broad Channel – where his cousins and grandparents lived – but didn’t reside there himself until his college years. Following his graduation, the playwright would move back to broad Channel “occasionally between gigs” and grew to have a deep appreciation of the neighborhood.
“When I was explaining the community (to the actors), they were very surprised that a place like this exists in New York City,” Bosley said. “I said, ‘They have a volunteer fire department,’ and they said, “What?’”
“Some of us took a ride out there to visit my cousins, and it was wonderful,” he continued. “They got to see the canals.”
While Bosley finished writing the play before Hurricane Sandy hit Queens, leaving Broad Channel devastated, the playwright said he didn’t want to leave the storm out of his piece.
“It was gut-wrenching to see how upside-down everything was after Sandy,” he said. “I didn’t think it was right to not have something about Sandy. There are omens something is coming at the end of the play.”
“Broad Channel” is being performed at the Cabrini Repertory Theater in Washington Heights. The final performances will be Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. For more information, visit www.uptheater.org.
By Anna Gustafson
