The University of Alabama’s department of theatre and dance will offer the community a chance to travel back to 17th century France with its production of “The School for Lies.” The play, an adaptation of Molière’s “The Misanthrope” written by David Ives, features both graduate and undergraduate students from the University and welds a 1666 French setting with complementary modern interpretations.
Gavin Cameron-Webb, the guest director of the play, said he encouraged the cast to research “The Misanthrope” to understand the similarities and differences in Ives’ adaptation.
“[‘The School for Lies’] is a tad bit different, but then, you don’t have one of the characters in ‘The Misanthrope’ dressing up in drag either,” Cameron-Webb said.
Elizabeth Bernhardt, a first-year MFA acting student and cast member, said she was impressed by the costume department’s attention to details in the script.
“There’s a line making fun of my hair being a varnished log, and so the wig really absolutely looks like a varnished log,” Bernhardt said.
Drey Mitchell, a senior majoring in musical theater, said one of the ways the play brings in modern culture is through variations in language.
“This show is in verse, but it is in American verse, so [Ives] uses a lot of modern colloquialisms that we use, such as the words ‘lol,’” Mitchell said.
The play addresses a question posed nearly 400 years ago by Molière that still emerges in modern situations: whether it is right to lie in order protect someone’s feelings.
Samuel Hardy, a junior majoring in theater, plays Frank, the character who acts as a catalyst in the plot.
“It’s been interesting and definitely a fun experience to explore the idea of, ‘Where do we draw the line with lying to protect people’s feelings?’” Hardy said. “Everyone in the show has sort of a different perspective on that, and it’s an interesting interaction when you put them all together.”
The convergence of 17th century France and contemporary America continues to be displayed beyond the appearance and dialog of the cast.
Abigail Gandy, a sophomore majoring in musical theater and advertising and the stage manager of the production, said the group mixed modern furniture with antiques.
“Because of the nature of the show, it’s very anachronistic,” Gandy said. “It’s Molière, but with modern language, and updated. So we have IKEA furniture and antiques as part of our set.”
Bernhardt said she believes the play will be both a learning and comedic experience for the audience.
“Things haven’t really changed much in humanity since 1666, and we still play all of these games with each other,” Bernhardt said. “We all kind of have this internal self and then what we project to other people.”
