The Cherry Orchard opened last Thursday to a sizable audience. While the play was okay, the selection was poor for the season. The subject matter was extremely depressing for a season when days getting shorter and gloomy become the norm; the play was ill-placed in the theatre lineup. This selection in the spring would depress fewer people.

I overheard one audience member say, “This play is so depressing! It is so hard to watch. It isn’t the performers’ fault, just the time of the year.”

Anton Chekov’s play is about a family waiting to discover if they will lose their house and orchard after failing to keep up interest payments on their mortgage. The family returns home after a prolonged stay in Paris. They quickly realize that any and all money they had is gone, and the house is being put up for auction.

One of the most recognizable themes of play is that problems arise through clinging to the past instead of preparing for the future. This is of historical importance because Chekov wrote this play for a Russian audience on the verge of revolution.

The character Peter Trofimov acts as Chekov’s personal mouthpiece for idealism and change. At one point in the play, he places himself above human emotion, noting that he and Ana, who he is affectionate towards, are “above love.”

Trofimov spouts line upon line of philosophical progression but is mocked by some of the characters for not having graduated university even though he has been there several years.
The emotional demand of the script on the actors proved to be the biggest challenge of the play. Unfortunately, these emotional instances were often overacted and failed to produce a reaction from the audience. One of the biggest demands came from the character Lyuba Ranevsky who ran the gamut of emotions. She did, at one point, produce real tears in a touching display at the climax of the plot. However, even she faltered into overdone productions in place of subdued and weighty displays of emotion. The Cherry Orchard required much more of the latter.

The character that the audience clearly responded to best was the elderly servant, Firs. A well-acted and comedic break from the depressing play he was written into, Firs allowed the audience to laugh and reconnect to the action taking place onstage. His interjections and senile ravings generated hearty chuckles and reminded the audience of the past this family so desperately clung onto.

One of the best experiences of the night was the set design by Rachel Finn, a senior in the College of Communication. It is great to see that the university utilizes its student talent and encourages large solo projects to those who prove capable of the challenge.

The stage was sparsely set and largely representative – allowing the audience to create their own version of the estate. Coupled with the lighting design, the mood was well-set, and there was a clear sense of nostalgia associated with the large property the family is on the verge of losing.

The greatest scenic feat came in the last seconds of the play when the cherry orchard was artfully and symbolically chopped down. Overall, this play was not the most entertaining of the season and sometimes lagged in action and acting, but it was a challenge for all involved. The theatre department deserves praise for at least attempting this feat, even though it faltered a bit.

Popularity: 17% [?]

The Department of Performing Arts will perform present William Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale”” from April 10 to 20 on the Helfaer Theatre main stage.

Director and Adjunct Assistant Professor Maureen Kilmurry, who performed the role of Paulina in Marquette’s 1973 production of “The Winter’s Tale” as an undergrad, is excited to be directing the play because of the growth opportunity it offers the students involved.

“Shakespeare is a wonderful teaching tool,” she said.  “It strengthens language skills, requires great emotional decisions, and has challenging technical demands – both physically and verbally.”

Artistic Director/Chair Phylis Ravel acknowledges Shakespeare’s potential impact on the development of good speaking skills.

“Heightened language teaches people to communicate,” Ravel said.   “Look at today’s election — it’s all about who can speak well.  We want our leaders to be able to speak well.”

The Department of Performing Arts produces five plays on its main stage per year: — a comedy, a musical, a classic with heightened language, a children’s play, and a play that emphasizes social justice. The last Shakespeare play produced at Marquette was “Romeo and Juliet” in 2003.

For cast member Nicole Farmerie, a senior who has taken Kilmurry’s class but has not performed extended in a full Shakespeare production, the challenge presented by her role in the play is both “daunting” and “exciting.”

“I mean it’s… Shakespeare… A full play of Shakespeare!  Whereas in class we just worked with monologues and short scenes,” Farmerie said.  “It’s also very exciting.  I play Hermione, the Queen of Sicilia.  The costumes are really cool and I have people doting over me all the time because I’m a queen.  It’s really fun.”

John Curran, who has taught Shakespeare literature courses at Marquette for the past eleven years, encourages students to see “The Winter’s Tale” to stretch their thinking.

“Shakespeare provides us a huge opportunity to use our logic and observe human nature,” Curran said.  “I do believe in reading Shakespeare, but I also love Shakespeare performed and heartily encourage people to see it.”
For ticket information, visit www.mu.edu/theatre, or contact the Helfaer Box Office by phone (414-288-7504), or by email (helfaer.boxoffice@marquette.edu).

Popularity: 12% [?]

Michael Morgan, the actor who performs the role of Zazu for Disney’s Tony Award-winning Broadway musical The Lion King shared his experiences with Marquette theatre students last Tuesday at a speech in the Helfaer Theatre.

“A lot of people think acting is putting on a mask,” Morgan said. “I believe it’s about taking something off — it’s about not acting.”

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Popularity: 13% [?]

After a symphony of groans in both sections of Dr. Mary Beth Tallon’s English 43 class, it was official: students are not thrilled to see a required play. No one seemed to be excited about sitting at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater for two hours and 56 minutes on Tuesday for the production of Cyrano de Bergerac, a play about an ugly man named Cyrano whom no woman could ever love. “I always request that students attend plays as part of my classes,” Tallon said, “It’s essential to see the literature staged as it was meant to be and to judge it in that light. I chose Cyrano because it is a great classic of the theater and is not to be missed.”

Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in the late 1890s by Edmond Rostand. Cyrano is a poet and swordsman, but his ugliness does not stop him from falling in love with Roxanne, the most beautiful woman he knows. As it is a tragedy, she does not return his love, but fosters love for a beautiful man, Christian. Roxanne loves poetry and beauty, and since neither man has both, they work together to woo the woman of their dreams.

They go through a series of meetings with Roxanne where Cyrano feeds Christian poetry to speak to Roxanne, and all the while she thinks that Christian is the perfect man. There is an entire scene in which Roxanne is standing on her balcony and Cyrano begins feeding Christian his poetry. It becomes too difficult so Cyrano takes over speaking to Roxanne, and because it is so dark, she thinks it is Christian and decides to kiss him.

Not only are Christian and Cyrano vying for Roxanne’s love, she has also caught the eye of the rich Comte de Guiche. After Christian’s speech to Roxanne, she breaks Cyrano’s heart and asks him to distract de Guiche while she and Christian get married. De Guiche finds out and sends Christian and

Cyrano to the front lines of France’s war with Spain. Roxanne asks that Christian write his words of love to her every day and Cyrano agrees. The ending is a bizarre twist of fate that only those who see it will know about.

“I hope and believe that they [the students] really like the action and fall in love with the great hero, Cyrano,” said Tallon. The students felt differently. Their heads were filled with both high and low expectations.

Ashley Tomaier, a sophomore in the college of Health Sciences, said, “I didn’t expect it to be good at all.” Pete Lindley, a sophomore in the college of Business, said, “I had pretty high expectations after seeing the Cyrano episode of Wishbone.”

However, to the surprise of most, Cyrano was a hit. Everyone was eating it up, but for many different reasons. The humor of the play came as a surprise to Maggie Homer, a sophomore in the college of Health Sciences, who said that it was nothing like what she had expected from a tragedy.

Emma Cotter, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, thought its message was particularly relevant to college life.

“I liked how the topics were relatable to us,” said Cotter. “Using topics like jealousy, self-consciousness and romance is a great way to cater to college students.”

The actors made it easy for the audience to fall in love with the characters. Kara Foster, a sophomore in the college of Arts and Sciences, said, “The actors brought a lot of dimensions to the characters.”

“I was pretty impressed,” said Sulaiman Al-Saeed, a sophomore in the college of Business. Al-Saeed said the actors used the space very well for such a small stage.

But one of its highest selling points was simply the fact that it was a French play. Kelsey McCusker, a sophomore in the college of Communication, said, “It’s a very ‘French Pride’ sort of play and I love that.”

The play ended with a death, a discovery, a hero and a standing ovation. All and all, for most, this play turned out to be a good use of two hours and 56 minutes on a Tuesday night.

Popularity: 25% [?]