William Wycherley鈥檚 The Country Wife rounded out DalTheatre鈥檚 2010/11 season, which took audiences 鈥淭hrough the Looking Glass鈥� to gawk at their distorted reflections in plays like Sondheim鈥檚 Into the Woods, Ionesco鈥檚 The Bald Soprano and Jacques or Obedience, and Jean Giraudoux鈥檚 The Madwoman of Chaillot.
Now, audiences who spent the summer catching their breath can be thrust into an even more dangerous realm 鈥� that of (true?) love.
DalTheatre鈥檚 2011/12 season is entitled 鈥淭he Marriage of True Minds,鈥� and it deals with affairs of the heart in all their complications. The heading comes from Shakespeare鈥檚 Sonnet 116, which begins 鈥淟et me not to the marriage of true minds / Admit impediments.鈥�
鈥淲e were thinking a lot about this question of relationships, of love and of sex,鈥� says Roberta Barker, chair of the theatre department. 鈥滻 think that the Shakespeare sonnet鈥� lays out this question that鈥檚 kind of never disappeared across time of the longing of a love that鈥檚 meant to be."
Timeless questions of young love
The plays which make up The Marriage of True Minds explore 鈥渢he possibility of a perfect marriage of minds and souls and bodies between people,鈥� continues Dr. Barker. 鈥淐an this happen? In what conditions can it happen, and what is the fallout if it does happen?鈥�
Such immortal questions will be addressed by the theatre department鈥檚 stagings of While We鈥檙e Young (Don Hannah, 2008), Blood Wedding (Federico Garcia Lorca, 1932), La Ronde (Arthur Schnitzler, 1900), and Lady Windermere鈥檚 Fan (Oscar Wilde, 1892). At a glance, the four plays seem to have little in common, but as Dr. Barker puts it, they are 鈥渇our plays that all, in different ways, explore the modern age鈥� the world being young, as well as people being young.鈥�
While We鈥檙e Young, penned by Canadian playwright Don Hannah for the students of the Department of Drama at the University of Alberta, sheds light on youthful love affairs from Confederation to the 21st century.
鈥淭he experiences of young people are timeless and recur鈥� eventually the stories start coalescing,鈥� says Dr. Barker. Such timeless stories include cultural and religious conflict (keeping lovers apart since Romeo and Juliet and Tony and Maria), as well as the spectre of war (Passchendaele in one case, Afghanistan in another).
Seduction and lust
Blood Wedding was 鈥渨ritten by Lorca in Spain just before the Spanish civil war, exploring the traditional life of Andalusia鈥� it鈥檚 very elemental, poetic鈥� literally, much of it written in poetry.鈥� The play relates the story of a young woman called only 鈥楾he Bride鈥� (a cue picked up years later by Quentin Tarantino) and her paramour, who are kept from following their passions by a 鈥渧ery rigid鈥� very violent society.鈥�
Of La Ronde, Professor Barker says, 鈥渢his is kind of the play that asks the question, 鈥榃hat are we really in search of when we鈥檙e in search of love?鈥� Sex? Do we want to play games with the other person?鈥� Schnitzler鈥檚 play follows a falling-domino series of seductions between a prostitute and a soldier, then a soldier and a parlor maid, then a parlor maid and young gentleman, and so on through a number of other couplings before ending up nearly where it started at an encounter between a count and a prostitute.
鈥�La Ronde and Blood Wedding are a really great back-to-back pairing,鈥� explains Dr. Barker, 鈥渄ue to Blood Wedding鈥檚 focus on obsessive love and La Ronde鈥檚 quick changes between partners.鈥�
The last show of the DalTheatre year is usually a period piece that showcases the skills developed through the year by all theatre students, including those in Dalhousie鈥檚 unique Costume Studies program. Lady Windermere's Fan fits the bill.
Oscar Wilde is back due to popular demand; a number of people submitted requests that a Wilde play be performed in the upcoming season. According to Dr. Barker, Lady Windermere鈥檚 Fan is 鈥渁 combination of late-19th century melodrama with wit鈥� it explores the classic melodrama question: the woman with a past, who is she? But it鈥檚 couched in the Wilde repartee鈥�.
Exploring extremes of genre
While the excitement over 鈥淭he Marriage of True Minds鈥� is already palpable in the Dal Arts Centre鈥檚 nooks and crannies, Dalhousie鈥檚 theatre community is also still basking in the glow of its most recent season.
鈥淲hat I think I was particularly proud of in this [past] season was the great work of the students,鈥� says Dr. Barker. 鈥淲e explored extremes of style last season鈥 think in this coming season, we鈥檙e going to explore extremes of genre.鈥�