Libby Skala - Darien Times

THE DARIEN TIMES

AUGUST 24, 2007

Darienite Skala to perform one-woman play, ‘Lilia’

By Michael Coburn

Darienite Libby Skala’s life has always been closely intertwined with that of her grandmother Lilia Skala, an Austrian actress and Academy Award nominee. The elder Skala not only motivated her granddaughter to become an actress, but also inspired her to star and write her first play, “Lilia.”

The one-person play chronicles the life of her grandmother and explores the relationship between the two women.

This Monday, “Lilia” will return to Darien to be performed at 12:45 in the Darien Senior Center. Tickets are free.

Skala said the play is a tale of perseverance and the ability to overcome all the odds stacked against you. Her grandmother battled against resistance early on to become the first woman architect in Austria and later a successful actress in the country. Only to be forced to flee to America when the Nazis invaded Austria.

In America, she was reduced to working in a zipper factory, trying to learn English and resurrect her acting career. Her big break came in her 60s when she played a German nun, Mother Maria, alongside Sidney Poitier in the movie “Lilies in the Field,” for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.

“The play show’s that its never too late to improve the talents we have.” Skala said. “(Lilia) was in her mid 40s when she came to America, that’s when people are beginning to think of retiring. Yet she overcame every obstacle to succeed.”

The show also follows the progression of Skala, who goes from a 5-year-old sucking her thumb to an adult in her 20s, and shows the relationship between the two.

“People have connected to the family relationship,” Skala said. “They’ve come up to me and said they had a very close relationship with their grandmother, or they wished they had a close relationship.”

Skala’s acting career began in Darien, where she acted in the high school’s play, “Adaptation.” She went on to major in English with an emphasis on theater at Oberlin College.

The idea for the play came in 1995 during an improv class in which the students were told to talk about someone they found interesting. Skala chose her grandmother and her instructor found the story to be so compelling, he encouraged her to write her own one-person play about her grandmother.

After four years of writing, the play debuted in 1999. Since then, Skala has performed her play more than 175 times across the world in venues that include the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival, where it won Best in Show out of 118 plays.

Skala’s success with “Lilia” motivated her to write a second play, called “A Time to Dance.” It is another one person play, that follows Skala and her great aunt Elizabeth Polk, Lilia’s sister, a pioneer in dance therapy. The play won best solo performer in the London Fringe Theatre Festival, and Skala hopes to continue performing it.

Last Updated: 3/4/2009

LIBBY

SKALA

Performer Writer