Time Enough

A review by Gary Carlson

Time Enough is the title of a play written by Robert Benjamin, a Men’s Wellness participant from Los Alamos. It could also have been the theme for the recent New Mexico Conference on Aging, where I saw the play performed. The title suggests that, even as we age, there is still “time enough.”

I have known the playwright for a number of years. I first met him soon after I became interested in “conscious aging” issues as I approached my own elder years (I now have 65 years of life experience). Robert is a recently-retired scientist from Los Alamos who has been involved for some time in writing scripts for “senior theatre,” which is theatre with themes that relate to aging. The four-scene play Time Enough actually had its genesis over two years ago, starting as a one-act play entitled Warm Ashes. This was the story of an older, adventurous man (Ken) and a lively, but conventional, woman (Ann) who meet late one evening at a rural B&B Inn and discover to their amazement, as they talk, that they had known each other nearly 40 years before. It eventually becomes clear that Ken had known this in advance, and had actually set up their meeting at the Inn, totally unknown to Ann.

Warm Ashes explored many issues that older persons encounter, including the denial of aging, the loss of loved ones, the continued need for and interest in physical and emotional closeness as we age, the parts of ourselves we hide from others and the habits and quirks we develop over the years. For a year or more, Robert took the play to retirement homes across northern New Mexico, using it as a tool to encourage discussion of the themes the play developed among the residents. It always generated a lot of interest, comments and questions, one of which was “How does the play end?” Subsequently, Robert finished the writing of three more scenes and added the new title, Time Enough.

Shortly after Time Enough was finished, Robert brought it to the Adobe Theatre in Albuquerque, where it enjoyed favorable reviews and a month-long run, including ten sold-out performances this last June. Then, Robert arranged for it to be presented as a live staged reading at the Conference on Aging in August. Although it was running in competition with the big dance (which is the event at the Conference each year), it nonetheless attracted a highly appreciative audience of well over a hundred in the Chapel of the Conference Center. Much of the crowd stayed after the performance to discuss the play and its messages regarding aging with Robert, the director (Clara Soister) and the actors (Fran Martone and Wayne Coté).

The second and third scenes of Time Enough see Ken and Ann rapidly rekindling the friendship, then the romance, that had initially brought them together so many years before. They continue to quibble about big and small things, but begin sharing more openly and deeply the events of their past lives and their hopes and dreams for the future. Finally, near the end of the third act, Ken reluctantly reveals a devastating secret. Ann, who had lost her first husband less than two years before, is crushed by the news and begins to unleash the anger of her unresolved grief.

The fourth act finds Ann and Ken once again meeting late the next evening, almost by chance it seems, as they had the first night. After several exchanges in which they both struggle to express their anger, fears and anguish, Ann and Ken finally realize that they can’t let go of the chance for a loving relationship, regardless of the possible consequences. They realize there is still “time enough.”

This play was at times funny, at other times sad, but always engaging. We all, at various times in our lives, will encounter many of the issues the play raises, but perhaps they come more frequently and have greater impact as we age. And while there may in fact be time enough, we are reminded that our time is limited and we should neither take it for granted, nor waste the opportunities we encounter for growth and loving relationships. The play also reveals that life is a dance. Initially, Ken was very much in charge (he knew Ann, but she did not remember him; he knew other secrets that she did not). Later, when he had revealed his secret and was in his own way devastated by the news and its effect on this new and important relationship, Ann became the one who was stronger, at first furiously denying that she would remain involved, but later realizing that the most important thing was to treasure the love they were beginning to share.

Kudos to Robert for a great and thought-provoking play! I understand he plans to develop future productions of the play in northern New Mexico. Don’t miss it if you have a chance to see it!