THEATRE-IN-THE-ROUND 

2002/2003 SEASON 

Preliminary information sheet - updated 4/2/03

Here is some basic information about our upcoming season - our 42nd!!

Uncle Vanya  by Anton Chekhov (in a version by Brian Friel)

…" a contemporary version of the classic play exploring human vulnerability "… [click here for Director's Notes] 

 

{ directed by Professor James P. McGlone }

        F 10/18 , Sa 1O/19 , Su 1O/20 matinee,

        F 10/25 , Sa 1O/26, Su 1O/27 matinee

       The Last Night of Ballyhoo  by Alfred Uhry

…”  a Tony Award winning comedy by the author of Driving Miss Daisy”… [click here for Director's Notes]

          { directed by Professor Peter Reader }

      F 12/6 , Sa 12/7 , Su 12/8 matinee, 

         F 12/13 , Sa 12/14 ,  Su 12/15 matinee 

 

        Antigone  by  Jean Anouilh

   ” Where government authority conflicts with individual conscience, someone has to give in, or violence erupts.....[the classic Greek story as interpreted by the famous,French playwright]    . [click here for Director's Notes]    

               {directed by Professor James P. McGlone }

         F  2/21 , Sa 2/22 ,  Su 2/23 matinee 

         F  2/28 ,  Sa  3/1  ,  Su  3/2 matinee

        The Boys Next Door   by  Tom Griffin

   ...  " the funny, yet touching off Broadway hit play "...   [click here for Director's Notes] 

        { directed by Professor Deirdre Yates }

    F  4/4 *  , Sa 4/5 , Su 4/6 matinee,

      F 4/11 , Sa 4/12 , Su 4/13 matinee

* Please join us for a discussion on "Integrating People with Disabilities into Society" conducted by Professor Deborah Strazzer from SHU Special Education Program immediately following April 4th performance

* All evening performances begin at 8:00 and matinees are at 2:00.

*All performances take place in the Theatre-in-the-Round in the University Center. 

* Ticket Prices:  $6.00 – Regular

                  $4.00 - Senior Citizens, & Children, & SHU Alumni

                  $3.00 – SHU Students – One ticket per ID

 

DIRECTOR'S NOTES -- EXCERPTS:

 Uncle Vanya  - notes by Professor James P. McGlone 

Anton Chekhov has exercised a strong attraction for American players, probably because of his association with the famous Director Constantine Stanislavsky. His books on the art of acting produced the American acting school known as Actor's Studio. Stanislavsky turned Chekhov's delicate comedic character studies into tragedies, and Chekhov protested the treatment until his dying day. Uncle Vanya has many of the elements of melodrama popular with audiences in that period, and, as Uncle Vanya illustrates, Chekhov enjoyed the stage tricks of the genre.

Stanislavsky, and his American disciples, have downplayed the melodrama by emphasizing the philosophical malaise they perceived to be an essential element of the Russian Soul. The brooding boredom and the Vodka-induced cynicism of  Chekhov's people produces eloquent dialogue and sometimes brutal humor, but throughout his plays there is an atmosphere of tolerance and even affection for the folly of his characters.

Regret seems to be the central emotion to Chekhov's view of this world. Regret as the foolishness of mankind, and this seems to match up well with Brian Friel's view of Ireland, so it is no wonder that the Irish playwright has taken to "Englishing" his Russian colleague.

I thought the combination offered our audiences a chance to experience the work of two important 20th Century playwrights as they interact with each other's distant worlds. I hope you find the meeting of two artists as much fun as I have had introducing you to their Uncle Vanya.

All the best,

Jim McGlone

 

 

 

 The Last Night of Ballyhoo         = notes by Professor Peter Reader

Alfred Uhry previously wrote the Off-Broadway hit Driving Miss Daisy.  With Last Night of Ballyhoo he won the Tony award for best drama in 1997.  Both dramas explore family relationships set against southern culture.

He sets this family drama in 1939 around the premiere of Gone With the Wind.  He craftily juxtaposes world events with family conflicts to provide insight into family relationships.  Family coming together around the holidays is always tense.  All those family problems that are never dealt with seem to roar up into tense conversation.  Small problems become big issues. 

            In this nuclear family, Uncle Adolphe holds his family together as mothers bicker over their daughters’ relationships. It all comes to a crisis at Ballyhoo, the holiday cotillion.  Two young girls are caught with life choices about love and identity.  Uhry, through his characters, raises the question: Does who we think we are determine whom we love? 

 

 

 

   Antigone       =notes by Professor James P. McGlone 

 ” Where government authority conflicts with individual conscience, someone has to give in, or violence erupts.....[This is a presentation of the classic Greek story as interpreted by the famous, French playwright] 

What, if any, is the place of religious belief in the public square? Should the State regulate the religious use of marijuana, monogamy, same sex marriage, abortion, or conscientious objection to military service? When, if ever, must civil authority give way to religious convictions? The Greek theatre framed that question in the tragic tale of Antigone. During the occupation of his beloved Paris by the Nazi in the early forties of the last century, French playwright Jean Anouilh disguised his protest of Nazi tyranny by creating this version of that classical story, and his oppressors never caught on to the criticism.

Antigone's Uncle Creon has denied her brother burial as a rebel and traitor to the state. Antigone believes that his soul must wander forever unless he is interred. Creon's problem is complicated by Antigone's betrothal to his son. This is not only a religious question, but a family concern, and the welfare of the state is confused with the preservation of family ties. Creon is, as they say, caught between a rock and hard place.

Antigone, hot with the righteousness of youth in the flush of its highest ideals, is not one to compromise. She believes she is defending a sacred right and is willing to die for it. She will not hear of sacrificing for the good of the community. Creon struggles in the net woven with the strands of family, religious, political and social demands. While the outcome is inevitable, the duel is no less fascinating for being familiar. And who will argue that the struggle no longer continues?

Perhaps that is the defining aspect of plays that are considered part of the Western Theatrical Canon. They passionately and dramatically restate spiritual concerns that dominate the discourse of every generation. Anouilh returned to the Greek Myth in order to rouse his compatriots to resistance against the Tyrant, Hitler. Perhaps there isn't a Creon figure in our contemporary political world, but the central concern for the place of religion in the public square remains in the forefront of most serious American moral discourse. Antigone's plight and Creon's responsibilities continue to command center stage in our contemporary search for The Good Life.

 

All the best,

Jim McGlone

 

 

 

_The Boys Next Door__   = synopsis & notes by Professor Deirdre Yates }

Director's Notes:
 "I am here to remind the species of the species"
                Lucien P. Smith (one of "The Boys Next Door")

 I invite you to look beyond the façade and see the true spirit of humanity that dwells in us all. This play which opened at the Lamb Theatre in New York in November of 1987 was originally produced by the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey. The New York Times review stated, "THE BOYS NEXT DOOR moves the audience to an awareness of how many things in everyday life we take for granted . . ." I think this play reminds us that we all want only to laugh and love and find some meaning in our brief time on this earth. So, remember, "next door" is really not that far away.

 Synopsis:
 The place is a communal residence, where four mentally handicapped men live under the supervision of an earnest, but increasingly "burned out" young social worker named Jack. Norman, who works in a doughnut shop and is unable to resist the lure of the sweet pastries, takes great pride in the huge bundle of keys that dangles from his waist; Lucien P. Smith has the mind of a five-year old, but imagines that he is able to read and comprehend the weighty books that he lugs about; Arnold, the ringleader of the group, is a hyperactive, compulsive chatterer, who suffers from deep-seated insecurities and a persecution complex; while Barry, a schizophrenic who is devastated by the unfeeling rejection of his brutal father, fantasizes that he is a gold pro. Mingled with scenes from the daily lives of these four, where "little things" sometimes become momentous (and often funny), are moments of great poignancy.