The Department of Theatre and Dance presents

THE SUICIDE
by Nikolai Erdman
Translated by John Freedman

Directed by Steven Pearson

February 18-26, 2011
Longstreet Theatre

Tickets: 777-2551

Join us for a post-show Q&A Wednesday, February 23

Half-price late-night show February 26 at 11pm!

Theatre South Carolina To Stage Rarely-Performed
Russian Farce The Suicide

Theatre South Carolina will present the once-banned and rarely-performed Russian farce The Suicide as the third in its main stage series February 18-26 at Longstreet Theatre.

Show times are 8pm Wednesday - Friday, 7pm Saturdays, and 3pm on the first Sunday. There will be a half-price performance at 11pm on the final Saturday (February 26). Tickets are $10 for students with valid I.D., $14 for USC faculty/staff, military and seniors 60+, and $16 for the general public. Tickets are available calling 777-2551 or by visiting the Longstreet Theatre box office. Box office hour are 12:30p - 5:30p, Monday through Friday. Longstreet Theatre is located at 1300 Greene St.

A talk-back is scheduled post-performance on Wednesday, February 23.

Playwright Nikolai Erdman’s 1929 dark comedy spent a year in rehearsals under the direction of the great director Vsevolod Meyerhold before being banned after a preview showing to Stalinist bureaucrats. The play wasn’t seen again until 1969 in Sweden; it finally got an audience in Russia in 1982. Erdman died in 1970, largely unknown in his home country.

The farcical play takes us into the downtrodden existence of Semyon, an out-of-work tubist at the end of his proverbial rope. When his wife confides to a neighbor that he may be considering suicide (he isn’t), interested locals, each representing a different facet of society (the intelligentsia, the bourgeoisie, et al.) begin trying to make him a martyr for their own pet causes. He might be worth more dead than alive, but to whom?

“The Suicide presents a great opportunity for our audiences to see true farce as opposed to the broader comedy we've become accustomed to in this country,” says Director Steven Pearson. “With this play the audience laughs at the absurdity of the real situation as opposed to just straight-out gags. Any gags that there are come out of the needs of the characters to solve their problems.”

An undercurrent of the highly comic story is a darker subtext that deals with the societal changes which occurred in Russia throughout the 20s. Scenic Designer Nic Ularu, who was born and raised in Romania, is bringing his first-hand knowledge of growing up in a repressive communist society to great effect with the production’s set.

“This show has a particular resonance because it represents a microcosm of what was happening during a period of history which turned very dark,” Ularu comments. “That period is so amazing because it coexists with the main artistic movements of the 20th century. You have on one hand this flamboyant boiling pot of art and on the other the beginning of deep oppression.”

Joining Nic in creating the look and feel of early-Stalinist Russia are Costume Designer Lisa Martin-Stuart, Sound Designer Walter Clissen and Lighting Designer Brad Cozby.

The cast of eighteen includes graduate students Don Russell (Semyon), Catherine Friesen (his wife, Mariya) and Professor of Acting Robyn Hunt as Mariya’s mother, Serafima. Also appearing are students Amanda Forstrom, Andy Hernandez, Samuel Kinsman, Joe Mallon, Jessi Noel, Yvonne Senat, Chuck Curran, Kayla Cahill, Sarah Crouch, Becky Doran, Ait Fetterolf, Gabrielle Peterson, Swann Périssé, Chad Tolson and Mark Whitesides.

Several cast members also double as musicians during the production, as they portray a band of gypsies known as The Free Artists Trio. Undergraduate students Ait Fetterholf, Becky Doran and Kayla Cahill, will take up drums, guitar, bass and woodwinds to perform Russian folk songs. Pearson says many in the acting company have had an active hand in sourcing and arranging the music for the play.

Director Steven Pearson says that though Erdman’s social satire still has relevance today, the main selling point is the play’s outlandish humor.

“I hope audiences come see the show and simply enjoy how Semyon's basic problem works itself out,” he says. “We intend that everyone will laugh, and will recognize themselves or their situation, and also recognize the humor involved in being single-minded about something. And, in the larger context, we hope the play encourages them to realize that whatever their individual circumstances are, perhaps they aren’t quite as dire as they may seem.”

Pearson adds, “I’m all for doing anything that makes people laugh, and I mean a true laugh where people recognize things. When one person laughs it comes from their unique experience of living, and of course that's different from everyone else’s. So, when an audience laughs at the same thing, there then exists something common that all of these people, with all their individual histories, agree upon. To my mind, that's the central core of why we do theatre.”

For more information on The Suicide or any of Theatre South Carolina’s upcoming productions, contact Kevin Bush at 803-777-9353.

Show Times
Friday, February 18                    8pm
Saturday, February 19              7pm
Sunday, February 20                 3pm
Wednesday, February 23         8pm (Q&A to be held after)
Thursday, February 24             8pm
Friday, February 25                   8pm
Saturday, February 26              7pm and 11pm  (11pm is a half-price performance)

Tickets:
$16 for the general public
$14 for university faculty/staff, military and seniors 60+
$10 for students with valid I.D.

BOX OFFICE INFO
Tickets are available by calling 777-2551, or visiting the box office in person on the first floor of Longstreet Theatre (corner of Sumter and Greene streets). The box office opens November 5 at 12:30p. Box office hours are 12:30-5:30 Monday - Friday.

Click here for a map of Longstreet Theatre.