Winter Term Promises Plays

Student Productions on the Horizon

February brings with it the Oberlin Contemporary Theater Festival. Even if that is not an official title, it will certainly feel festive in and around the performance spaces on campus starting Winter Term.

Never in recent memory has the sheer scope of Winter Term productions on campus been as ambitious and provocative as the performances set for early next semester.

Three honors project productions are to be cast the week after fall break; the chance has never been better for student actors to sink their teeth into highly sophisticated contemporary drama. Productions slated for the open-call audition on October 27-29th are Peter Shaffer's psychological scorcher Equus directed by senior Rob Ross, Suzan-Lori Park's historically based Venus directed by senior Shannon Forney and Patrick Marber's gritty and metropolitan Closer directed by senior Patrick Mulryan.

These are hard plays, and unlikely fare for a college campus. Equus , which premiered in the early '80s, concerns itself with the relationship between a psychologist and a patient, a damaged teenage boy who has a penchant for blinding horses. The work delves into the psycho-sexual interior world the boy inhabits. An ingenious twist to the script is Shaffer's idea to make horses part of the play. They are silent onlookers, and present a tremendous opportunity for those interested in dance to become part of a theater ensemble. The psychologist, boy and horses provide endurance tests for any actor.

Playing with Equus on the main stage of Hall Auditorium will be Suzan-Lori Park's African inspired, carnival-like musing on slavery, Venus. Writes Director Shannon Forney, "the story of Venus is grotesque. Saartjie Baartman was a native of the Khoi-Khoi peoples of southern Africa. She was taken from her home and shipped to London in 1810 to be exhibited in a freakshow for her 'enormous butt' (which was only enormous by Victorian London's standards) In Africa, she was quite normal. She was billed as the Venus Hottentot." Lori-Parks has created a wild, cracked-mirror interpretation of the Venus Hottentot story.

The play calls for a cast of twelve (it is a rarity for a student director to pick such a large play) and performers with strong physical backgrounds. Forney is looking to create a strong carnival atmosphere within her production and would like to bring some past experience with puppetry to bear in Venus. The fact that Equus and Venus are to be presented in repertory is an exciting prospect, and should make for intersting juxtapositions.

The two mainstage performances will be presented February 8-11.

Writing for Variety magazine in London, critic Matt Wolf writes of Patrick Marber's Closer that "the young dramatist here incorporates elements of Pinter and David Hare and a scathing dose of David Mamet-style muscularity. But just as the London where Closer takes place makes you reassess a city you thought you knew, so does the author's altogether bruising take on love, writing fresh emotions from a time-honored topic."

Paul Moser, chair of the Theater and Dance department says: "We want to generate a lot of advanced interest and excitement in these pieces. All three are provocative in their own ways, and it is kind of newsworthy that we are doing them." Particularly exciting is that the staff designers at Oberlin - scenic designer Mike Grube, costume designer Chris Flaharty, lighting designer Jen Groseth and technical director Rick Mayfield - will be designing elements of all three student shows.

The three productions will be getting the full treatment. With any luck, Equus, Venus, and Closer will all be blessed with well acted, visually striking productions. For all who have wanted to audition for a play at Oberlin, here is your opportunity - start writing your Tony Award acceptance speeches.