For a long while, the play was banned from being performed publicly, and of course, it was during this time that it really began to attain popularity behind the closed doors of the enlightened salons of 17th-century Paris. The fashionable, cultured set of Paris’ intellectual elite vied for the attentions of the illustrious playwright, who would grant private readings, in part to dispel any misunderstandings of meaning, and in part to gain support for the play’s eventual return to the theater.
Today there is no obstacle remotely as problematic barring students from seeing this semester’s fall plays, save perhaps an apathy and laziness that prevents them from walking the five minutes it takes to get to Kirby. And should they be prevented from a trip to the theater, they would be missing not only a production of “Eurydice” and the Theater and Dance Department’s Performance Project, but also the school’s very own production of “Tartuffe.”
Performance Project is a semester-long developing production in which students in Wendy Woodson’s Theater and Dance 62: Performance Studio class create original works of choreography and theater to be performed in early December. Auditions for all who want to participate begin this Friday, Sept. 12.
“Eurydice” is American playwright Sarah Ruhl’s refashioning of the classic Greek story of Orpheus from his wife’s perspective. Eurydice comes to campus mid-November after showings in New York City’s Second Stage Theater as well as Yale’s and Berkeley’s Repertory Theatres.
In the familiar Greek myth, Orpheus’ wife, Eurydice dies tragically and Orpheus, the musical master of masters, plays and sings melancholy songs that move the nymphs and gods and other fantastical creatures to tears. By their counsel, Orpheus travels to the Underworld and once more plays his saddest of songs for Hades and Persephone, hoping that they will take pity on him and allow him to rescue Eurydice. The rulers of the Underworld agree to let Eurydice return to earth with Orpheus on the condition that he lead the way and not look back until they both reach the surface. In his haste and anxiety, Orpheus turns too quickly and loses Eurydice forever.
Ruhl’s version of the myth changes the perspective and also gives more attention to the nature of the eerie Underworld. In her “Eurydice,” the Lord of the Underworld and the Chorus of Stones have controlled the landscape for eternity and they seek most of all to destroy the relationships of the people who inhabit it. “Fathers are forbidden, love is forbidden, everything is forbidden,” commented Emmy Pierce ’11, who will play one of the Stones. The hellish order of the Underworld, however, is threatened when Eurydice discovers her father and develops newfound love for him. When Orpheus descends to the depths of the Underworld, Eurydice is forced to choose between the love for her husband and the love for her father.
Auditions for “Eurydice” just ended last week and yielded a group of Amherst theater veterans as well as new faces. Senior Lisa Miguel Smith heads the cast as Eurydice, while Senior Resident Artist Peter Lobdell and Kalan Rutstein ’11 round it out as her father and Orpheus, respectively. Recent Yale School of Drama graduate Shana Cooper will direct the play, with the notoriously rigorous rehearsals beginning this week to prepare for performances Nov. 13 to 15.
The College’s version of Moliere’s celebrated comedy, “Tartuffe,” will actually kick off the fall theater season. Opening night will also be the premier of Amherst’s own Playwright-in-Residence Constance Congdon’s translation of the play from its original French to English. Of note, the current widely accepted version of “Tartuffe” was written by another person with Amherst ties—Nobel Prize winner, former poet laureate and alum Richard Wilbur ’42, who is currently serving as the John Woodruff Simpson Lecturer at the College.
“Tartuffe” is a social commentary on hypocrisy centered on the main character, a “charlatan priest who swindles and swoons” an unsuspecting family until the very end. Taking on the role of Tartuffe himself is Justin Redfearn ’09 who is completing the production for his senior thesis in acting. Highly involved in the auditions that ended last week, Redfearn and his supporting cast are just beginning rehearsals. Redfearn insists he is not nervous about the play, but rather is “interested to see where [he goes] with the role.” More than anything, Redfearn seems excited about having full creative range in exploring the character rather than being typecast into the same “melodious deep-voiced creep” he has often played in previous Amherst productions.
“I want the audience to be entertained, that is, comically laugh at the play,” Redfearn said, adding that he’d like to be able to help the audience “see the humor in poor manipulations,” which are, of course, funnier when viewed from the comfortable distance of a seat in the theater.
“Tartuffe,” “Eurydice” and the Performance Project coming up in the fall theater season promise to add a bit of laughter, or myth or dance to those who choose to go, sit down and take them in. The modern-day campus salon awaits.