“The Dispute” at Studio Theatre
Final production tonight
In a relationship, who will be the first to be unfaithful? The question that playwright Pierre Marivaux explored in an 18th century garden plays out in a modern genetics laboratory in the upcoming Studio Theatre production of “The Dispute.”
The updated setting also allows Chrystyna Dail, new director of the Studio Theatre at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, to add a second layer of inquiry to the dark comedy: When and how is it ethical to use human beings as scientific guinea pigs?
In the original, a prince sadistically tries to resolve an argument with his mistress—is it nature or nurture that causes lovers to stray?—by taking two baby boys and two baby girls and raising them in isolation. When the four reach the age of 19, the prince turns the innocents loose in an Eden-like garden to the delight of party guests invited for the occasion. In Dail’s adaptation of Neil Bartlett’s translation from the French, the prince is now Dr. Prince, a renowned biologist and founder of Fig Leaf Laboratory, and his entourage is Fig Leaf’s genetic scientists and marketing staff.
“This play was written towards the end of Marivaux’s life, when he was unafraid to ask questions,” Dail says. “It did not do well at the time, because there was a disturbing twistedness underneath the romping Comédie-Italienne audiences had come to expect from Marivaux based on his earlier, lighter works.”
Dail, who is finishing her doctoral degree in theatre history at University of Maryland, chose “The Dispute” as her first show because of its appeal to the Penn State Behrend students both on the stage and in the seats. “I’m always interested in integrating ideas of politics and gender on the stage,” she said. “This is a show that is relatively short, physical to the point that body use is more important in the staging than language use, and has themes that appeal to college-age audiences. The student cast has worked very hard to make this a fun, enjoyable show.”
Although “The Dispute” marks Dail’s Erie debut as a director, she is no stranger to local theatre. As a student at Mercyhurst High School in the 1990s she was active in its theatre, chorus, show choir, and Children’s Theatre Ensemble, and performed in both adult and children’s productions at the Erie Playhouse. As an Equity actor, she toured nationally in children’s theatre productions, and worked regionally in the Washington, D.C. area as an actor, director, and choreographer, collaborating with “The Fantasticks” creators Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt and director/choreographer Baayork Lee of “A Chorus Line.”
The all-student cast is: Kylie Swanson, Evan Koser, Cassie Kosmal, Earl Kunsman, Darius Martin, Bryan Monroe, Patrick Sharbaugh, Kay Smith, Kylie Swanson, Sarah Calligan, Jessica Higgins, Maya Hoffman, Kathryn Kotlarz, and Kevin Roche.
Dail characterizes “The Dispute” as appropriate for children over the age of 13. The seven-show run in the Studio Theatre at Penn State Behrend opens at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, November 13. Evening productions also will be held Friday and Saturday, November 14 and 15, and Tuesday through Thursday, November 18-20. A matinee performance will take place at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, November 16. Tickets are $7 ($5 for students) and may be reserved at the Reed Union Building main desk by calling 814-898-6242.