Costume designs by Suttirat Larlarb for the characters of (left to right) Tisbea, Don Juan, and Isabella, for The Last Days of Don Juan.

Speaking further about the play, Sexton reveals that it is the kind he enjoys: "It has questions of sexuality at its core. I don't think I'm alone in thinking that human behavior surrounding sex is endlessly fascinating. It is also a play about class. Don Juan exploits and enjoys the power imbalance. He can't stand not satisfying himself, and the more criminal the act is, the more alluring it is for him. It is only when he kills a member of the aristocracy that those in power get upset at what he's doing."

In fact, it is difficult to hate Don Juan—he is self-assured, brave, charming, handsome, lively, persuasive, and witty. In short, he has all the makings of a brilliant lover. One’s introduction to him on stage is his seduction of a duchess, who believes that he is her own true love and has no idea about his real identity. When she begins to suspect something is amiss, she calls for help and the King of Naples arrives. Embarrassed by the duchess’ indiscretion and mindful of his own position, the King leaves it to the Ambassador of Seville to settle affairs. This seems to be typical of the ruling class in the play, who would rather smooth over affairs than actually tackle them. The Ambassador conveniently turns out to be Don Juan’s uncle, and assists his nephew in his escape from the chambers.

Don Juan flees unpunished. We learn that he stole out of Seville after an incident of the same nature, and most of his other exploits from here on are of a similar bent. He charms one woman after another and then flees, leaving the women to bewail their fate. He is entirely non-discriminatory, seducing fisherwomen, noblewomen, country women, brides—even his friends' sweethearts. The only factor he seems to require is that there be some obstacle in his path. He gains entry via trickery and deceit—usually under cover of darkness, using false identities, making empty promises. The woes of those who suffer at his hands merely make his antics seem more of a merry jaunt to him. But when he kills a nobleman by mistake, the male rulers—the ones who wield power—sit up and start taking notice.

The world of Don Juan is definitely a patriarchal one, with the male gentry being the supposed representatives of law and order. It is thus also a world in which a young nobleman like Don Juan can be lawless and yet go scot-free. In fact, the King hastens to make amends for Don Juan’s misdemeanors by arranging his marriage to the duchess he has wronged, only to find that Don Juan has dishonored several women. In this setting a woman's honor depends on her virginity, and if stripped of that before marriage, she is considered defiled. Thus the women Don Juan has abused have no real recourse to justice except to demand that he marry them.

"The play is a funny, painful, sexy one," says Sexton. "Although the writer makes you root for Don Juan by making him dynamic and attractive, he also successfully shows the price that the women pay for his philandering." Witness Tisbea’s graphic agonizing: "I was deflowered there—left hot and red and bleeding in that oven of desire." Her plight makes one empathize with the victims. It also helps unveil Don Juan’s true brute nature—a sexual, elemental, virtually unstoppable force. The play is replete with references to witchcraft and the Devil, and Don Juan is frequently compared to Satan. It is therefore striking that one from the grave, the nobleman Don Juan killed, is responsible for his demise. By inviting the stone statue of this nobleman, Don Gonzalo, to dinner, Don Juan virtually invites his own end. The young philanderer who throughout the play mocks God now begs to be shriven before he is dragged down to hell, but is denied his request as retribution for his unseemly behavior. The play concludes with the women being married off to their appropriate partners and the society’s order being restored.

The Last Days of Don Juan Drama Theater Wednesday, Oct. 1-Sunday, Oct. 5 For time and ticket information, please see the calendar.

There are no precise antecedents for the Don Juan character as portrayed by Tirso de Molina. A number of Spanish plays of his era portray the amorous exploits of a young nobleman and present a character analogous to Don Juan. It is commonly assumed that the general idea of a gallant seducer was part of the literary repertoire of the time and Molina constructed the character based on no definite source but his own imagination and a stock dramatic type. The stone guest, however, has its sources in folk tradition. Molina's audiences would have recognized it as a fitting agent of reprisal for Don Juan’s unrepentant nature.

The Last Days of Don Juan remains a problematic play. While matters seem to be comfortably settled at the end of the drama, one wonders if anything has changed. The cause of the turmoil and anarchy has been removed, but the conditions that allowed Don Juan to operate still exist, and the symbols of mortal power seem as ineffective as ever. Perhaps this was the playwright's intent. A contemporary of Lope de Vega, another dramatist of the Spanish Golden Age, Tirso de Molina was actually a pseudonym for Fray Gabriel Tellez. The playwright belonged to the order of Mercedarian monks, which would explain the liberal sprinkling of theological references throughout the play.

Sexton finds that the scale and breadth of this play are unusual. "The issue is romantic and sexual and therefore part of everyone's life. In my experience with classical work like this, about two or three weeks into the rehearsal process the play itself will tell you how it operates."

Meanwhile Sexton envisions the sets and costumes as an amalgam of both modern and period. Sexton will be assisted by composer Lance Horne and a choreographer in realizing his vision.

"I am interested in making sure that there is no screen between the audience and this material. It frequently happens that, with classical material, the vocabulary and inventions can turn the audience off. I want to make this play as immediate, compelling and surprising as possible." Those who saw Sexton's production of Love's Labour’s Lost at Juilliard four years ago would know that he is a master at this.

With a large cast, broad themes, meaty language, and the premiere of this version having been given by the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford, The Last Days of Don Juan might seem a daunting play to do. "However," says Sexton, "there are fantastically talented people at this school; that's why I enjoy working at Juilliard—it's one of the great pleasures I have."

One has the feeling that this pleasure will be mutual.

Mahira Kakkar is a fourth-year drama student.