The theater seemed bare at first. Where was the audience to sit? There were no chairs set up on the main floor at the ’92 Theater this past weekend. That was because the audience sat on the stage, along with the action, for Tara Shah’s ’05 senior thesis adaptation of “Lolita” and Michael Rau’s ’05 thesis adaptation of “As I Lay Dying.”
“Lolita,” a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, is the story of a man and his love affair with a thirteen-year old girl lovingly nicknamed Lolita. Shah adapted this story for the ’92 stage with only two actors. Max Goldblatt ’05 played Humbert Humbert and Z Behl ’07, a newcomer to the Wesleyan stage, played Lolita.
“During auditions we had to act the car scene, and I told him [Max] that for the kiss we should really just go at it,” Behl said. “Because for me it was all or nothing; like dancing, the more intense it gets, the more into it I can get, and the more fun I have.”
The show began with monologues addressed to the audience. Behl hopped around the stage striking seductive nymphet poses as Goldblatt told the audience exactly what a nymphet is and how this whole affair began.
From there the two characters together told the story of the seduction of and by Lolita. Behl changed costumes multiple times and all of the space of the ’92 stage was used. The stage was set up with multiple white platforms and a frame set up with two pleated blinds. Behl often changed behind the blinds as Goldblatt addressed her or the audience.
The two worked extremely well together and had a chemistry that was undeniably apparent from the audience.
“Z and I knew each other fairly well,” Goldblatt said. “A lot of dance parties over the years. But she’d never acted at Wesleyan, or anywhere, I don’t think. So this was a very different way of getting to know someone better.”
“As I Lay Dying,” a novel by William Faulkner, was the second show of Saturday night and also brought the audience onto the stage.
“I enjoyed [having the audience sit on stage],” said Edward Bauer ’08, an actor in the play. “I’m sad that more people didn’t get to see the show. There is an enormous amount to be said for the connection between actor and audience when reckoning the quality of a performance, and physical proximity can certainly be a contributing factor. I feel as if we would have lost something without the audience so nearby.”
The stage was sparsely set with some dimly-lit branches in the background and a bench. A coffin was being constructed throughout the opening of the play. The book consists almost entirely within streams of consciousness, which made the stage adaptation even more interesting.
“I hadn’t read the book before starting the show and, in fact, had somewhat of an aversion to Faulkner based on ‘Intruder in the Dust,’” said Marina Kastan ’08, who also acted in the play. “However, I really enjoyed this novel and before starting rehearsals we had a number of meetings where we discussed the novel in great depth.”
Kastan played the matron of the play, Addie Bundren, whose death serves as the catalyst of all the events of the show. Bauer, Michael Gottwald ’06, Chris Keeler ’07, Josh Lubin-Levy ’06, Ali Kimmel ’08, Jeremy Paul ’05 and Anthony Nikolchev ’08 were also in the play. The music was provided by Adam Tinkle ’08.
“Overall I was extremely pleased with the show and lucky to work with Michael Rau at least once,” Nikolchev said.
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