(DR. POWERS' office. MAYA enters, intense and enthusiastic.)
I'm not saying it isn't an intriguing idea ....
MAYA
Intriguing? It's only the greatest, most awesome play in late Romantic literature -- poetic, lyrical, epic --
DR. POWERS
It's epic, all right. CYRANO DE BERGERAC has approximately 70 characters. And, in case you hadn't noticed, a good 60 of them are men's parts.
MAYA
Well, that's a significant part of the project. A cross-gender deconstruction of a classic --
DR. POWERS
Whoa, Maya. I'm not the one you have to convince. All student productions go through the programming committee. You have to make a proposal. And it had better be a good one, there are other alternatives already on the table.
MAYA
But you can see it, can't you, Dr. Powers? What an challenge it would be? The things we would all learn by doing a women's adaptation of CYRANO?
DR. POWERS
(to audience)
And the truth was: I COULD see it. That's the mixed delight and
challenge of educational theatre. You want to embrace quality,
and you can't have your students galumphing around being self-indulgent.
But you're also happy to see them itching to stretch, explore,
take risks. And when you meet a world class risk-taker like Maya?
Maybe it clouds your judgment a little. Because you want the
magic to be real.
N'OMI
Okay, call me prejudiced. Maya is my roommate, and my best friend. But really, she is so -- brilliant!
DR. POWERS
Brilliant, maybe. Difficult, certainly.
ANGELA
She's a pain in the ass, that girl -- the insufferable ego!
DR. POWERS
But she seems to have things to back it up. She's articulate,
N'OMI
Sensitive, creative. And she's a natural leader.
DR. POWERS
She sure knew how to sell the product.
(TANYA, on a smoke break.)
(to audience)
Yeah, I was on the programming committee. I'm the only techie.
The actors and directors are usually the ones all hot to trot
over their projects, and we're this afterthought -- but we're
part of the process, too.
Before the meeting started, everyone naturally expected Angela's project to get picked.
(Lights up on ANGELA.)
ESPECIALLY Angela. She was a senior, she had the most allies, she is, like, self-appointed queen of the department. So Angela didn't really prepare for battle like she should've. How could Maya, this offbeat junior English major, possibly be a threat? Angela honestly thought her project was a shoo-in. Although, between you and me: Steel Magnolias? (rolling her eyes)
Then in sails Maya. She's got handouts, and a stack of background material. But mainly: she is on fire. And the longer she talks, the more excited people get.
(MAYA and the COMMITTEE. DR. POWERS is also present. House lights up: the audience is included in MAYA's presentation. SHE passes out her handouts to audience members. N'OMI follows her into the audience, videotapes it all.)
(ENSEMBLE BUZZ ON ENTRANCE: Congratulating ANGELA on her presentation, reactions to it, etc. As MAYA speaks, we can see the committee's growing enthusiasm. So can ANGELA.)
MAYA
CYRANO DE BERGERAC by Edmond Rostand is a great play. Why? Because it's got everything: passion, war, intrigue, poetry, adventure, comedy. It has juicy, well-rounded principal characters. It has a vast number of ensemble parts -- from soldiers to poets to nuns -- so diverse that the ensemble will be as challenged as the principals. There are heart-breaking love scenes, and some rip-roaring sword fights. And it has one of the most audacious protagonists in world literature: Cyrano himself.
And the sad part is: If we don't do it here, we'll probably never get a chance to. Because all but one of the most fabulous parts are written for men.
But we're lucky. At a women's college we have the opportunity to make our own history. We'll have the rest of our lives to play hand-wringing housewives and wise-cracking beauticians. But this play -- CYRANO -- gains us entry into a much larger world, a world of war and creativity and passion. It speaks to our innermost hearts.
TANYA
After that speech? "Steel Magnolias" didn't have a snowball's chance in hell. Because no matter what else Maya said, one thing kept echoing in everyone's head:
ALL
Sword fights!
|
|
 |
One of the most interesting theatrical and literary projects to occur in our city came to fruition Thursday evening in Wesleyan College's studio theater.
Although there is one final performance at Wesleyan tonight, if the reception by the opening-night audience is any yardstick, the world premiere of "Rehearsing Cyrano" marked the birth of a script that should find future life on collegiate stages throughout the country.
Written by Linda Eisenstein, a playwright who has already enjoyed considerable critical success, "Rehearsing Cyrano" is, in her words, "a play about making a play about a play."
Indeed it is, and furthermore, it itself is the product of a process similar to the one portrayed on stage.
Although the play is set at a women's college with a pond that is home to waterfowl and a professor named Fletcher, the author's program notes warn the audience that the creative product is not a literal representation of Wesleyan.
The script was developed in collaboration with the cast earlier in the year, and the result is quite pleasing, both as paean to Edmond Rostand's classic "Cyrano de Bergerac" and as a poignant yet comic look at the artistic process under particularly challenging circumstances.
Much of the fun comes from the idiosyncracies inherent in a drama program at an all-female college, a clear case of art imitating life. The audience's enthusiastic response to the work leads me to predict that it will be particularly popular at similar institutions.
The script calls for an ensemble cast, and that is precisely what actual director Frazer Lively has produced. Many of the actors play several roles as the student-directed "play" evolves through improvisation. Major roles are played ably by Katie Taylor, Kima Whipple, Erica Vural, Amber Peavey, Sarah Chandler and Lauren Haney. Wesleyan alumna Celia Hohnadel plays the faculty supervisor.
The entire concept of an improvised play about an improvised play about a stage classic is tremendous fun. But make no mistake: Much of this script is philosophically challenging and quite thought-provoking.
Yet the opening night audience was spellbound throughout. The subtly feminist ending provides an unmistakably deft twist at the curtain.
The Wesleyan Theater Department can be proud of its role in the development of this experimental new work.
Order
a script
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|