Theatre Arts dramatizes Williams one-acts

Using minimal characters and sets, the University's Theatre Arts Program set out to dramatize the interrelationships between men and women in two Tennessee Williams' one-act plays opening this weekend. Under the guidance of director, College senior Jonathan Morein, the performances explore the connection between opposite extremes, including the correlation between kindness and cruelty, power and subservience and mother and child figures. The first play, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, explores the relationship between a southern woman Flora Meighan, played by College Senior Ari Ehrlich and her abusive yet adoring husband Jake, played by College freshman Brett Halsey, and the antagonist Vicarro, played by 1990 College graduate Jef Johnson, who is also an assistant cheerleading coach. "There is a certain confectionary quality about the play," Morein said. "Flora is a woman trapped in her fantasy for a gentle life, yet she is a child that is preyed upon by the cruelty of the men in her life." After Flora's husband burns down the cotton gin of his former competitor Vicarro, Vicarro manipulates Flora into revealing that it was her husband who set the gin on fire, and in an act of vengence, rapes Flora. Not only does Flora's greedy husband not notice his wife's battered state, but Vicarro implies that he will continue to "be entertained" by Flora as long as her husband reaps the benefits of his charred cotton gin. "We really tried to explore the moments of uncertainty between Vicarro's kindness and brutality," Johnson said of his role with Ehrlich. "The real twist was the idea that both characters were needy of something emotional, but Vicarro's masculinity allowed him to dominate physically." Similar relationships exist in Auto-Da-Fe, which is performed immediately afterward. According to playwright D.J. Hopkins, the title comes from a legal term during the Spanish Inquisition when people were forced to confess to their sins or be burned at the stake. In an ironic parallel, the two characters, Madame and Eloi Duvenet, played respectively by College sophomore Tara Bandman and Johnson, lack the ability to communicate effectively, and abuse their roles of mother and child to the extent of mutual, emotional destruction. In a climactic finale, Eloi ends both of their internal sufferings by killing himself, and thus destroying his mother as well. "All of the characters are sent to extremes," Johnson said. "Morein did more than just sell the show, he delved deeper into its hidden meaning and brought out aspects that we, as actors, were forced to interpret ourselves." The Theatre Arts Program will perform tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. in the Studio Theatre in the Annenberg Center.