Released: October 1, 2012
- Photo by Doug Smith
Lincoln, Neb. - University Theatre, the academic year production program of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, begins its 2012-2013 season with a new adaptation of a play originally written in the Spanish Golden Age - "Agravio" by Ana Caro, adapted by UNL professor Ian Borden and Amy Williamsen.
Borden also directs. Dr. Amy Williamsen is Head of the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.
"Agravio" is a play of courage, betrayal and revenge. At the start of the play, Doña Leonora has been betrayed by Don Juan. Shamed and dishonored, she has hidden herself and her servant Flora in a convent, only to learn that Don Juan is traveling north to Flandes. Leonora vows to travel after Don Juan and kill him in an attempt to regain her honor.
According to adapter and director Borden, "Ana Caro is a somewhat mysterious figure, as very little is known about her life other than she was welcome in the highest circles of society and friend to royalty… Born possibly in 1590, her career covered the early part of the seventeenth century. Caro wrote professionally… She was a skilled and intelligent writer and fluent in the use of verse. Her play, "Valor, Agravio y mujer" (from which "Agravio" was adapted) was published between 1637 and 1650…"
- Dates: October 4, 5, 6 and 10, 11, 12, 13 at 7:30 pm and October 14 at 2:00 p.m.
- Location: Howell Theatre (first floor of the Temple Building) - 12th and R streets
- Tickets: $16, $14 faculty/staff and senior citizens, and $10 students via credit card (some user fees may be applied)
- Purchasing: unltheatretickets.com, the Lied Center Ticket Office (301 N. 12th, by phone at 402-472-4747, 800-432-3231, M-F 11:00-5:30 p.m.), and one hour prior to the performance (subject to availability) in the Temple Building Lobby
Borden explains the contemporary allure of the play, "The play is remarkable in many ways, especially the strong female characters. When the lead character, Doña Leonora, takes on a male persona by disguising herself as Don Leonardo, she personifies women’s equality with men. She is able to fight successfully against and even wound Don Juan, a character who earlier single-handedly defeats three bandits. It is a remarkable statement about the abilities of women in a society that ordinarily confines and limits their roles… While this story is nearly 400 years old, the characters’ passion and the intrigues of the plot speak to anyone who has ever fallen in or out of love – only these characters do so while brandishing swords!"
The production is designed by undergraduates Aja Jackson (lighting) and Logan Caldwell (sound), and graduate students Joshua Rajaee (scenic) and Julie Douglass (costumes). Graduate student Erica King is the technical director and the stage manager is undergraduate Fred Drenkow.
The cast is comprised of undergraduate theatre majors.- DOÑA LEONORA – Kayla Klammer
- FLORA, Leonora’s Servant and Friend – Jennifer Holm
- DON FERNANDO DE RIBERA, Doña Leonora’s brother – Billy Jones
- DON JUAN DE CÓRDOBA – David Michael Fox
- TOMILLO, Don Juan’s Servant – Shade Ingraham
- ESTELA, a Condesa – Lucy Myrtue
- LISARDA, Estela’s Cousin – Lauren Huston
- LUDOVICO, Príncipe de Pinoy – Patrick Stayer
- TIBALDO, a Bandolero – Shade Ingraham
- RUFINO, a Bandolero – Billy Jones
- ASTOLFO, a Bandolero – Patrick Stayer