The Tufts Balch Arena Theater will be kicking off the 1999-2000 season with Love for Love, a play by William Congreve, directed by Tufts' Artist-in-Residence, Anthony Cornish. A comedy of manners, wits, scheming, wheeling, and dealing, the play centers around the young Valentine, who is down-and-out, broke, and living in a poorhouse, after having spent every last penny trying to win the love of the beautiful Angelica. Badgered by his cruel father who attempts to take away his rightful inheritance, and pestered by various unplanned events which interfere with his plans, Valentine can resort only to his wits to finagle his way out of poverty and secure his fortune, while artfully conspiring in order to gain his Angelica.
Surprisingly applicable to the '90s, Love for Love touches on themes which have persevered from 17th century Great Britain, when the play takes place, until today - the pursuit of love, money, or both, and the sticky moral issues which inevitably follow. One can even liken Congreve's era to modern America. Where big business and banks once ran a wealthy English nation, today America leads with a corporate capitalist culture. Where a promiscuous monarch once ruled a country, today's America is led by an indiscriminate President.
Moreover, Congreve is well known as one of the best writers in the genre of the classic restoration comedy. After Puritan England shut down theaters due to their questionable social mores, restoration drama assaulted stuffy social conventions with quite a vengeance. Thus, Love for Love not only promises to deliver a comedy of wits, but an intellectual questioning of puritan values - a modern assault on the likes of Kenneth Starr and the independent counsel.
The producers of the play have gone to great lengths to create an authentic rendition of 17th century Great Britain. Actresses will be donned in era-costumes, complete with corsets, wigs, and trailing dresses; actors will be in wigs as well. Additionally, research into specific mannerisms will be used to re-create an accurate portrayal of the time period, along with music and dance.
So go for the witty dialogue, go for the costumes, go for the attack on puritanism. In any case, as Assistant Director David Hatkoff says, "It's funny and it's sexy. " It's a good time out at the theatre, conveniently located on campus.
Tickets for students with Tufts ID are $5, and $8 for those without. The show begins at 8 p.m. and runs from Thursday, Oct. 28th through Saturday, Oct. 30th, and Thursday, Nov. 4th through Saturday, Nov. 6th. For more information, contact the Balch Arena Theater Box Office at 627-3493.
