The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Comedy gives 'wild and wacky' new meaning

A sexy statue, a talking head, a giant serpent, a set of twins and a green bird; an interesting set of characters for an 18th century play.

Add a dysfunctional family, wealth and romance, and Carlo Gozzi's "The Green Bird" comes to life. The play will run at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10 through Nov. 13 with a matinee performance 2 p.m. Nov. 14 at McLeod Theater. Tickets prices are $11 for adults, $6 for students and $9 for senior citizens.

Director Thomas Kidd, assistant professor of theater at the University, said the cast has been working since the beginning of October to get ready for the performance. In addition to studying movement and improvisation techniques, they have been working to adapt their performance to fit the University's needs.

"We don't work in a field where you get an option," Kidd said. "[Everything] has to be ready because there is no postponing opening night."

The story begins with the return of Tartaglia, King of Monterotondo, to his kingdom.

Tartaglia is told the evil queen mother, Tartagliona, has killed his wife and replaced his two children with puppies at the urging of her evil poet-advisor. What Tartaglia does not know is that his mother has really imprisoned his wife in the sewers beneath the city, leaving her for dead. What the queen mother does not know is that Tartagliona's twin children, Renzo and Barbarina, are alive and being raised by the royal sausage makers.

The twins grow up without knowledge of their true identities, but embark on a journey to seek their hearts' desires after leaving home. During their journey, each twin falls in love with one of the magical beings that helps them along their way.

Near the journey's start, the twins meet a talking head statue that tells them the secret to becoming rich. But wealth transforms the humble twins into fashion monsters, concerned only with clothes and their own selfish desires. Driven by a longing for "apples that sing and waters that dance," Barbarina sends her twin to fetch them, although the journey means almost certain death.

Through it all, the key to the twins' futures rest with a mysterious green bird that knows everything about their past.

Kidd said he has taken a different approach to the comedy, one that is unique to the University. He said atypical movements have been the play's main focus, although bright costumes and sets add to its atmosphere.

To achieve their movement goals, the cast has worked with two professional clowns. They learned clowning tricks and how to walk on stilts, which several cast members have incorporated into the performance.

However, stilts are not the only uncommon aspect to the play. Kidd said the plot's mythical qualities allow a lot of experimentation with the human body. There are many puppet characters, which Kidd said are sometimes human and sometimes not human. Members of the cast also transform their bodies into furniture when called for.

"It's using people in a different way," Kidd said. "It's not a realistic depiction."

Because the show is family-based, Kidd said he had to tone down the sexual innuendos and "potty" humor normally seen in the commedia dell'arte form.

Cast member Erin Coatney, a senior from Mt. Vernon studying theater, said she believes the play retains its humor, although many parts have been cut. She said the entire plot relied on jokes and comedy, giving it the feel of a live cartoon.

"The whole thing is just a big circus," Coatney said. "Like at one point, we kind of do a vogue across the stage."

Coatney said the script frequently takes the plot out of the time period and many characters have individual accents fit more for U.S. regions than the 18th century. She said one character acts like Daffy Duck, while the twins are more like Barbie and Ken dolls.

Those very eccentricities are what attracted Coatney in the first place. She said she liked the concepts used in the costume and set designs, as well as in the on-stage movements. However, she said she did not expect to land the main female role.

"We were still auditioning when they told me, so I had to maintain my composure," she said, "but on the inside I was like screaming with joy."

The reaction of her counterpart, Jared Nell, was a little different. Although this is Nell's first main stage play, he said he was gunning for the lead male role the entire time. Although the senior theater major from O'Fallon said he was a little apprehensive at landing the lead role, his nervousness faded during the weeks of practice.

"A lot of people are nervous, but I welcome the opportunity to jump into the acting world with the lead role," Nell said. "It's a challenge and I welcome it."

Nell said the physical aspects of the play - such as running, climbing and sliding down poles - have made the play more difficult to pull together. Nonetheless, he said rehearsals are really fun and the jokes never grow stale.

"No matter how many time we repeat the joke, it's still just a blast working on it," he said.

While the play has a happy ending all around, Nell said his character learns the main lesson of the comedy: no matter what happens, "foolishness is the best philosophy of all."

[Macro error: Can't include because the file is larger than 32767 characters.]

Today's News | Sports | Voices - Editorial | Letters
Newsbriefs | pulse - Arts & Entertainment | Calendar | Photo Staff
Apts & Rentals | Photo Personals | Live DE NewsCam | Classified Ads