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A Wedding Foretells a Revolution in Figaro By DAVID TOWNSEND
When Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, the original stars of the stage version of Mel Brooks' movie classic, The Producers, returned to Broadway for a brief run, a choice seat at this hot show would set you back about $500. And when Rent, the rock-opera based on Puccini's La Bohème, first opened, cheap seats were available the day of the performance if you were willing to wait in a line outside the theater. At first you had to wait about an hour for a chance at the better seats; then it stretched to three hours. Eventually people began arriving as early as5 a.m. (and sometimes even camped out overnight), just to have a chance to see the show for $20.
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| Timothy Douglas directs the production of Beaumarchais’s The Marriage of Figaro. (Photo by Kimberly Scott) |
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We may consider these examples of a modern sort of madness—but 220 years ago, on the opening night of The Marriage of Figaro by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, aristocrats paid huge sums of moneyin order to sleep in anactor's dressing room the night before, in order to ensuretheir chances of getting a seat. The actual opening night was so crowded that a man was crushed to death by the crowd at the frontof the theater, where he remainedpropped upright until intermission, as it was too crowded to remove him any sooner.While itis rewarding to know thatthe passion for theater lives on (and has become less hazardous to your health), itis important tonote the major differences between the two centuries.WithThe Producers and Rent, audiences were fanatical about the shows' witty or touching stories, played with bravery and perfection by a host of talented performers. In Beaumarchais' day, the hype revolved around the dangerous material. Figaro had been banned by the censors, and Beaumarchais thrown in jail forhis abusive behavior when trying to defend it. Seeking support forthe play's release,Beaumarchais organized several semi-public readings of it,including one at Versaillesstarring members of the royal family. As legend has it, "Louis XVI told Beaumarchais he would have to demolish the Bastille before the play could be performed without embarrassing the government." (The Figaro Plays by John Wells, xxi). WhenFigaro finally received a public performance at the Comédie Française in Paris, and the public went wild over it, it marked a major milestone in the buildup to theFrench Revolution (and, indeed, the destruction of the Bastille).What could be so dangerous about a play? At first look, Figaro—which opens this season's offerings by the Drama Division's fourth-year class of actors—is a love story. We follow Figaro, a valet,through a myriad of trials as he attempts to defend his bride-to-be from his master,the lecherous Count Almaviva. The main point of conflict is the Count's wish to revive an ancient custom whichgrantshim his feudalright to "deflower" each new bride married within his jurisdiction. Figaro and his bride-to-be, Suzanna, schemewith the estrangedCountess to outwit thedastardly Count, anddelicious revenge plays out as the tables are turned.As charming as the story may be, with its many farcical twists and turns, there is a deep current of revolution within the play. Napoleononce said,"If I had been a king, a man such as he [Beaumarchais] would have been locked up… The Marriage of Figaro is already the revolution in action." Figaro takes a strong stance against the longstandingmaster/servant relationship. In Act 4, during a private moment, Figaro curses the Count: "Because you're a great lord, you think you've got a great mind. Blood; money; rank; the choice appointments … what did you do to earn those many blessings? Took the trouble to be born: beyond that, you ain't much." In an earlier diatribe against politicians in general, Figaro describes them as having "what it takes to screw friends, disown promises, buy time, sell votes [and] the guts to glad-hand a man you're gonna stab in the back." Strong words for a serf to be using with the Count, and yet Beaumarchais lived his life in much the same way, resulting in his imprisonment. Figaro was among the first of the French playsto engage the audience's sympathies for the serving class, championingability over nobility. Figaro's success was ironic, in that the majority ofits viewers were aristocratic.The noblemenattendedthe play in record numbers,even though it was clearly a foreshadowing of their own demise.
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The Marriage of Figaro
Drama Theater
Wednesday-Sunday,
Sept. 29-Oct. 4
For time and ticket information, please see
the calendar.
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The Marriage of Figaro will be directed by Timothy Douglas, who is making his debut here at Juilliard. Mr. Douglas received his M.F.A. in acting from Yale Drama School, and is no stranger to visiting different conservatory programs around the county to teach and direct. He says he finds "working with students incredibly rewarding, as it is a chance to slow down." (In the professional world, he notes, many directors are under such time constraints that often they develop a shorthand.) He continues: "Directing in conservatories is half teaching, half directing, which allows me toreinvestigate my own process." Mr. Douglas recently stepped down from a three-year stintas associate artistic director at the ActorsTheater ofLouisville.He has enjoyed an unprecedented string of good fortune as a director, traveling from the West Coast to the East Coast,and tomany of the country'smajor regional theaters, before landing in Lousiville. ANew York native, Mr. Douglassays that he is excited to work with Juilliard's fourth-year classand spend time in NewYork again, before heading out to a year's worth of different assignments all across the country. David Townsend is a fourth-year drama student.
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