Students work on play,
will perform in French
By Catherine Hours
f& Oa-^y £ rn#fs*Kl
Work is already under wav for
the spring term production of Ixi
Dispute n plav by the iHth oen
tun French author Pierre M.iri
vaux
I'he romance languages
department is sponsoring the
plav which will be performed
in French
The cast was determined In
audition last week, but the staff
still needs backstage help, espe
cially in lighting and i ostumes
lxi Dispute is a one-act come
dy about the havoc wrought by
the excesses of teen-age love and
desire Four performances will
be given at the end of spring
term, probably in May
The department has spon
sored such events in the past,
but they were never this big and
involved
Next term, the preparation for
the plav will he the subjei t of a
course titled "Gender and Sex
uality Students < an earn from
one to four credits, depending
on their degree of partu ipation
Instructor and director Tim
Si heie said this solution was the
most appropriate because the
preparation takes a lot of time
and energy In April, partici
pants will have to rehearse
every night, and the promise of
credits reinforces their motiva
tion
The course is structured not
only around the play itself but
around the theoretii.nl question
of sexual identity
"because this is a very hot
question these day s, we're going
to talk about it a lot and read
some very contemporary articles
addressing the issue." Scheie
said.
The play is all about love and
sex. and focuses on an argument
over who is. by nature, more
inconstant • men or yvomen
Scheie has previous theatrical
experience from the University
of Wisconsin, where lie pre
pared his I’ll I)
"It yvas part of the curriculum,
and there yvas a tradition that
every year students m French
literature look part in a play."
Scheie said I acted several
years, and I was assistant dirts
tor a couple ol years
Between 20 and 2.r> students
will participate in this adven
ture.
I.ise Nathan, assistant director
and graduate teaching fellow in
the French department, said that
it's an excellent opportunity for
American and French students
to meet, and to see the produc
tion of a play from the inside.
“This will totally differ from
traditional courses." Nathan
said "This experience is going
to be enjoyable, very funny and
very physical, too."
Laurence Rico, who will play
one of the main parts, empha
sized the importance ol the visu
al and sound dimensions acting
brings to a play
Hu o. also a French GIT has a
passion for theater She already
had (hi' exponent •> of ii< (mg in a
French play produced in C.rt'.i!
Britain, iind she rememliers hn\
ing i good nine on stage
\i ting as well is teat lung
are really in mv nature Kuo
said In both i uses, you are on
.stage you hate to charm the
audience I also play a part in
my ( lass late is theater
This is also interesting to
produce an American adapta
tion of a French play. Nathan
said Indeed, the play adaptation
will he transposed to the Unit
ed States in the 1950s
This dm ision originates from
several reasons First, an lHth
century adaptation would have
required expensive costumes
"Hut ! didn't want to do that
anyway," Sc lieie said "That's
museum theater,"
Moreover, there is little doc u
mentation of the original pro
dut turns from the 18th i entury
bee nuse a lot of it was destroyed
in the 1870 fire of the Paris
Hotel de Vi lie (City Hall) Con
sequently. nobody even knows
how this plav yyas performed or
what theater yyas like at that
time
"A museum type of play
would he artificial," Sc heie said
Given the subject of /.(i Ihs
puli' (a new version of the Adam
and Five story), the action had to
take place in the context of an
age of innocence, of a garden of
Fid on
" Thu 5()'s represents to nut .1
certain age of innocence."
Scheie said "Years when peo
ple were very optimistic . pose
live, a sort of 'age d or' that we
have lost today At that time,
there were really strong sexual
rules, unlike the trouble waters
of today, when sexual identity is
not clear anymore The idea was
so clear about what was sup
posed to he You couldn't even
sav the word 'homosexuality.'
for example, it was a taboo
" This is a modern interpreta
tion of a play whose theme is
universal and timeless Rico
said
Yet. despite these 1.flanges, the
play w ill still be performed in
Trench
Besides the fat t tfiat tins ix
part of .1 Trench literature class,
any Knglish translation is
unlikely to be available, and
Marivaux s language is very dii
ficult to translate
Scheie plans to use the origi
nal text
" The French is not that old, it
hasn't changed that mm h sim e
that time." S< heie explained
"Anyway, we ll make it expres
sive through the acting "
"How tuanv Freni h language
plays are put in Oregon in the
year?" Scheie said T’rohahlv
not any."
This is also an enric hing cul
tural experience It will bring
together the Trent h-speaking
people of Tugene who will come
to see the play
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SUPERFLY
Dear Superfly,
I unintentionally invited two
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(halt the time)
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