By David Hare, freely adapted from Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde
Director: Virginia Reh
Scenographer: David Vivian
Lighting Design: Ken Garrett
Assistant Director: Jessi Robinson
February 14, 15 & 16, 2013: 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Matinee: February 15, 2013: 1pm – 3 pm
Directed by Professor Virginia Reh, The Blue Room is David Hare’s 1998 adaptation of Schnitzler’s Reigen (La Ronde), first produced in 1921. The plot is a “sexual daisychain”: the Girl couples with the Cab Driver, then the Cab Driver with the Au Pair, etc. Each time the new participant in one scene moves on to the next scene and so on, until in the final scene the Girl returns and encounters the Aristocrat. The play looks at casual sexual encounters as a (mostly) unsatisfactory substitute for human connection. This is a universal and timeless quest. The play is an important exploration with diverse current points-of-view: as each character has encounters with two different partners, the play explores the shifting status relationships (both social and personal). The relational dynamics of the play have interesting correspondences to explorations on social media.
Tickets: Adults $15.00, Students/Seniors $12.00, Groups $10.00, eyeGo $5.00 H.S.T. extra
Theme-oriented and moderated workshops will be available. DART 3F93: Social Issues Theatre for Community Development, taught by Professor Joe Norris, will employ Process Drama and Applied Theatre techniques to explore themes that underlie the Blue Room. Scenes will be created that delve into issue of identity, innocence, risks, thresholds, secrets, awkwardness, beliefs, mores, taboos, exploitation and power. With a participatory dimension cast and audience will enter into conversations to explore the issues further.
Please see DART’s page for more information.