Barbara and Henry stand in the living room looking at old photos and wondering what happened to their forty year marriage. At one time it seemed they were deeply in love. They spent every minute together and barely left their one room apartment on Oak street that they rented right out of college. They planned out their future, a promotion, a nice house in the suburbs and a few children. They had it all. But somewhere along the way things began to deteriorate as time drove a splintered wedge between them. Forgiveness was forgotten. Second chances were squandered and they slowly grew apart. Its only been six months since Henry's funeral but it feels like a lifetime. Now Henry wants her back, but is there love after death?
On the mantle piece sit several items that represent Barbara. We used objects that were inherently feminine and catholic to symbolize her saintly devotion to her husband while he was alive. We used a statuette of the virgin mary, a pair of praying hands and a ceramic lamb. Joy Newman who plays Barbara contributed many details, including a small angel statue of her own which fit in nicely.
We also added some framed photos to the display. One is a photoshoped image of Joy Newman and Patrick McCall with their arms around each other taken in happier times. We had initially wanted this to be a wedding photo but neither of our actors had wedding photos for us to use and since they had never met before working on the film together we had to merge two of their old photos together creating a alternate history. The other framed photo is of Joy and her two nephews who portray Barbara and Henry's sons. The objects fade into the background and become the clutter of everyday life but if you really look you can see symbols of Barbara's character all around the house.
Written By Rebecca Croft
