The Hamilton College Department of Theatre presents the avant-garde masterpiece "The Water Hen" in Minor Theater in November. Performances run Thursday, Nov. 9 – Saturday, Nov. 11 and Wednesday, Nov. 15 – Saturday, Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. There is also a matinee on November 11 at 2 p.m.
Written in 1921 by the Polish surrealist painter and playwright Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, "The Water Hen," called "a comedy with corpses," is directed by Professor of Theatre Carole Bellini-Sharp.
The dead do not stay dead in Witkacy's bizarre fusion of reality, dream-realm, and "barren metaphysical suffering in the fourth dimension." The main character Edgar (Arthur Giovannangeli '08), along with his friend's wife Lady Nevermore (Caroline Nixon '08), mistress' son (Chris Estremera '07), father (William Welles '08), Water Hen (Lindsay Pearlman '08) and many other "enemies disguised as friends" and "friends disguised as the bitterest of enemies," attempt to navigate this cataclysmic universe. The production, designed by John Pollard, Amy Svoboda and Bill Burd, resonates for our own "crumbling world perched on a volcano."
The only son of a prominent artist, Witkacy experienced the crumbling societies of World War I and the Russian Revolution firsthand. Echoing the world in his plays, Witkacy sought to achieve meaning and greatness outside of tradition. An exceedingly eccentric and captivating individual, Witkacy kept a running ranking of his friends, informing them by letter of any shift in their standing when a quarrel or falling-out occurred. Truly a multi-faceted personality, with genius that took on many forms: from painter to playwright to novelist, philosopher to drug expert, Witkacy explored a gamut of occupations in an attempt to distinguish a self in the chaos that surrounded him. On the brink of World War II, as Poland again came under foreign control, Witkacy took his own life, his final words: "I won't go on living as less than myself." Yet Witkacy's legacy, like the characters in his plays, lives on as a profound influence in today's avant-garde theatre.
This performance is in Minor Theater on the Hamilton campus. All seats are general admission. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens and students. To reserve tickets, call the theater department box office at 859-4057.
Written in 1921 by the Polish surrealist painter and playwright Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz, "The Water Hen," called "a comedy with corpses," is directed by Professor of Theatre Carole Bellini-Sharp.
The dead do not stay dead in Witkacy's bizarre fusion of reality, dream-realm, and "barren metaphysical suffering in the fourth dimension." The main character Edgar (Arthur Giovannangeli '08), along with his friend's wife Lady Nevermore (Caroline Nixon '08), mistress' son (Chris Estremera '07), father (William Welles '08), Water Hen (Lindsay Pearlman '08) and many other "enemies disguised as friends" and "friends disguised as the bitterest of enemies," attempt to navigate this cataclysmic universe. The production, designed by John Pollard, Amy Svoboda and Bill Burd, resonates for our own "crumbling world perched on a volcano."
The only son of a prominent artist, Witkacy experienced the crumbling societies of World War I and the Russian Revolution firsthand. Echoing the world in his plays, Witkacy sought to achieve meaning and greatness outside of tradition. An exceedingly eccentric and captivating individual, Witkacy kept a running ranking of his friends, informing them by letter of any shift in their standing when a quarrel or falling-out occurred. Truly a multi-faceted personality, with genius that took on many forms: from painter to playwright to novelist, philosopher to drug expert, Witkacy explored a gamut of occupations in an attempt to distinguish a self in the chaos that surrounded him. On the brink of World War II, as Poland again came under foreign control, Witkacy took his own life, his final words: "I won't go on living as less than myself." Yet Witkacy's legacy, like the characters in his plays, lives on as a profound influence in today's avant-garde theatre.
This performance is in Minor Theater on the Hamilton campus. All seats are general admission. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens and students. To reserve tickets, call the theater department box office at 859-4057.
