The University of Tennessee

Clarence Brown Theatre»

Welcome!

Press Release

For more information contact:
Robin Conklin
Marketing Director
Rconkli1@utk.edu
865-974-2497

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

"Phaedra" to Play at the CBT

KNOXVILLE—The Clarence Brown Theatre will perform “Phaedra” by Jean Racine in the Lab Theatre from March 31 through April 10, 2011. The production contains adult content and themes.

In Racine’s play, Phaedra is the queen of Athens who desires her stepson, Hippolytus.  When her husband--who has long been absent from the court--is declared dead, she reveals her desire to him.  The tragedy unfolds when the king suddenly returns.  To cover up the sexual and political transgression and to preempt public accusations about an incestuous affair, Phaedra accuses her stepson of making sexual advances to her.  Hippolytus is banned from court and dies a gruesome death while Phaedra, ruing her deed, commits suicide.

“While Racine drew on Greek mythology and Louis XIV’s court society in the seventeenth century to create his characters, our Phaedra is a modern woman in a high-powered, contemporary setting.  She tries to pursue her desires in a media society where both sexuality and politics are experienced under the scrutiny of television, computers, and video surveillance,” said director Klaus van den Berg.

Klaus van den Berg (Director) is an associate professor in the Theater Department and teaches graduate seminars in theatre history and dramatic literature as well as undergraduate courses in theatre history. He has previously directed plays by Georg Büchner, August Strindberg, Anton Chekhov, Carlo Goldoni, Pierre Marivaux, Friederike Roth, and Moliére in Bloomington (IN), Atlanta and Knoxville. He has worked as professional dramaturg for the Clarence Brown Theatre as well as for theaters regionally and internationally.  Areas of research specialization include cultural conceptions of space and their relevance for twentieth-century German theatre, nineteenth and early twentieth-century Scandinavian drama, postmodern theory and late twentieth-century intercultural performance. In addition to articles in books on August Strindberg, Richard Wagner, George Tabori, Max Frisch, Walter Benjamin and image theory in contemporary performance, he has contributed essays on contemporary directing, dramaturgy, and design in Theatre Survey, Theatre Journal, Bühnentechnische Rundschau, Brecht Yearbook, Western European Stages, and Contemporary Theatre Review.

“Racine’s “Phaedra” is one of those plays which most directors want to direct some time in their careers because it features deeply felt characters, great plot construction, and negotiations between religious, philosophical and political issues—in other words, the essence of all great theatre,” van den Berg said.

The production features UT Theater undergraduate students along with a community actor.
Theater students include: Samantha Huskey (Phaedra); Patrick Murphy (Hippolytus); Megan Deshaies (Oenone);Tyler Padgett (Theramenes); Jenna Purdy (Aricia); and Sarah Jordan Stout (Ismene).

Community actor, Jacques DuRand (Theseus), originally hails from Minnesota. He trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.  Most recently he was seen in “The Marriage of Bette and Boo.”

The following first year MFA candidates designed for the production: Libby Stadstad (Scenic Designer);
Miwa Ishii (Costume Designer); and  Kate Bashore (Lighting Designer).

Mike Ponder (Sound Designer) has been resident sound designer for the UT’s Theatre program for more than 10 years. His work also has been heard at The North Carolina Stage Company. Most recently he composed electric bass music for Lee’s Blessing’s Chesapeake as well as for Underneath the Lintel.

Elizabeth Goodstein (Dramaturg) is a cultural theorist and Associate Professor in the Graduate Institute of the Liberal Arts at Emory University.

 “Phaedra” runs from March 31 through April 10, 2011.  Evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m.  Matinee performances begin at 2:00 p.m. Ticket prices are $10 for adults, $10 for regular students, and $3 for UT students. For tickets, please call the CBT box office at 865-974-5161 or Tickets Unlimited at 865-656-4444.

MEDIA SPONSORS