Ouachita’s Department of Theatre Arts will present The Learned Ladies on Nov. 3-5 and 7-8 at 7:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6 in Verser Theatre.
The Learned Ladies, a French comedy by Moliere, puts a satirical twist on the lives of three ladies- Philaminte, Bélise and Armande, who are focused solely on intellectual power as opposed to matters of the senses, such as love.
“The theatre department chose to produce this play this fall to help create balance in the season. This is a classical comedy and To Kill a Mockingbird was a modern drama,” assistant professor of theatre arts and director, Drew Hampton said. “Since this is a classical piece, it also provided our students a chance to work with heightened language, which for this play, follows the same structure as many Shakespeare plays, iambic pentameter.”
“We haven’t done a play like this since I directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I think the language spoken, as well as the ornate and fancy set and costumes in The Learned Ladies will make this production particularly memorable for our audiences,” Hampton said.
Because of the old language style and genre of this play, there have been many hours put into the preparation of this production.
“With comedy, it’s always hard as a director to encourage your actors to live truthfully under the character’s circumstances, yet also know how to make the audience laugh because in the truthful lives of the characters, there is no audience,” Hampton said. “We also speak in a much more casual way in 2016 than these characters speak. Making the words sound effortless and natural is always going to be a challenge with classical pieces.”
The cast members of the play have been rehearsing for about three hours each weeknight since early October.
“My character is Belise. She is obsessed with being learned, aka trying to be super educated in everything, but especially grammar. She also is very flirtatious,” senior musical theatre major, Kayla Walker said.
A lot of time has been spent memorizing lines, researching characters and the history of the time period in which the play takes place.
“In order to prepare for this role, I’ve researched movements from this time period along with watching Shakespeare to help grasp the iambic pentameter concept and to get the over the top, exaggerated feel,” Walker said.
Hampton is in his third year at OBU, allowing him several opportunities to work with the cast of this play, giving him full confidence in their abilities to carry out this production.
“Spending a lot of time working on past plays and scene work in class with these students has allowed me to be very trusting of them to create moments on their own. Certainly, there are plenty of things I need or am asking them to do,” Hampton said. “However, my favorite moments of rehearsal have been when I have said ‘Let’s do this four or five times and try something different each time. Play with it and make it your own,’ and the actors do it.”
The leading cast members of The Learned Ladies include: junior musical theatre major from Roland, Michael Pere as Clitandre; junior musical theatre major from Terrell, Texas, Anna Joie Valdez as Henriette; senior theatre arts major from Magnolia, Tyler Lewis as Chrysale; freshman theatre arts major from Dardanelle, Lauren Roberts as Philaminte; senior musical theatre major from North Little Rock, Kayla Walker as Belise; junior musical theatre major from Pittsburg, Texas, Lizzy Girffin as Armande; freshman musical theatre major from Benton, Benjamin Mills as Trissotin; senior theatre arts major from Grandview, Texas, Jesse Bowron as Ariste; freshman theatre arts major from Little Rock, David Hudson as Vadius; senior musical theatre major from Jonesboro, Bret Sanders as Martine; freshman theatre arts major from Rowlett, Texas, Graham Garrison as Julien; senior musical theatre major from Maumelle, Hannah Fender as Lepine; and freshman musical theatre major from Walnut Ridge, Dylan Blackwood as the notary.
“Comedy always comes alive when there is an audience. I look forward to seeing how the actors’ energy goes up a few notches, which could lead to the discovery of some fun, new choices for their characters,” Hampton said.
Tickets for The Learned Ladies are available at the JPAC Box Office, weekdays from 1-5 p.m., or online at www.obu.edu/boxoffice for $10 each. If you are a current Ouachita student, you are eligible for one free ticket with the presentation of your student ID at the box office.
By: Abbey Little, Staff Writer
