Enchantment is a swell topic for the theater, which often works its own kind of magic; but there's precious little that's enchanting about Enchanted April, Matthew Barber's adaptation of the 1922 Elizabeth von Arnim novel of the same title. At best, there's a wan charm to this under-budgeted production, for which 12 producers and four associate producers have been corralled to foot the bill.

Enchanted April was first filmed in 1935 as a vehicle for then-popular Ann Harding and re-made in 1992 by Mike Newell and cinematographer Rex Maidment with attention paid to the beauty of Northern Italy as seen by visiting Brits. The English, of course, have long regarded Siena and surrounding areas as[...]