Students grab the reins and take charge by directing and performing in two powerful plays this week -- "Nobody's Gilgul" by Lois Roisman and "Betrayal" by Harold Pinter.
The first play is coordinated with Dartmouth's Hillel, the College's Jewish organization. It concerns many themes and practices from Jewish religion, in a modern secular context.
Several seniors involved with Hillel asked Jo Weingarten '98 to direct the play. Weingarten submitted "Nobody's Gilgul" to the drama community, and the rest is history.
All sides won in this deal. The students in Hillel got to see their project come to fruition, while the actors and actresses gained an opportunity to perform an amazing script.
In this production, two women -- Eva (played by Emily Michaels '97) and Lily (played by Rebecca Gorman '96) -- represent two forces in the universe and religion.
In this play, these two ordinary women go through an extraordinary experience. Eva takes the role of a woman of the past. She is a traditional woman who abides by the codes of Jewish law and is trying to enter the Garden of Eden.
She is a wandering soul who needs to find a body in which to reside in order to return to paradise. Hence the word "gilgul" in the title, which means a human body a soul uses because it needs to atone for sins committed in a previous life.
While Eva is trying to earn her way into heaven, Lily is trying to figure out why she feels so empty.
Lily represents the new, modern woman. She works as a corporate attorney who meets with Eva.
The action takes place in offices, salons and, strangely enough, at the gates of the Garden of Eden.
Weingarten, who termed the script "schizophrenic, but fun and fuzzy," said these two women learn and teach each other and grow closer and bond together.
Thus the relationship between the two of them is based on their coming from such disparate backgrounds. Lily can not comprehend many aspects of Judaism Eva holds dear, such as conventions she believes to be "sexist."
But they eventually learn from each other -- Lily provides a view of independence, equality and respect for her counterpart, and Eva provides compassion and tradition which even the modern woman needs sometimes.
Weingarten added, "It's a fun, easy going play that will make you laugh and chuckle a bit. It has some good messages and serves as a great vehicle for introducing new talents to the stage."
"Nobody's Gilgul" premiered last night and will play tonight and Thursday.
But "Nobody's Gilgul" will not be the only play in which students take a commanding role this week. About 10 students from the Directing I class and 12 students from the Acting II class will put on Pinter's "Betrayal" as a project for their respective classes.
Drama Professors James Loehlin and Paul Gaffney teach the directing and acting classes, respectively.
Michaels, who is also working on "Betrayal," said, "Subtext plays a major role in this piece as the dialogue is often purposely vague. This provides an excellent opportunity for the actors and directors to develop their own interpretations and intentions for the scenes."
The play examines the experiences of a couple from after they are separated back to their first encounter.
Students will put on "Betrayal" today and tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. in the Bentley Theater.
