When a suspicious wife tests the fidelity of her supposedly estranged husband and finds that a series of mistaken identities and explosive jealousies has been unleashed, it can only mean one thing: this semester’s University Playhouse play.
Directed by Dr. John Hanners, the University Playhouse is bringing the spring semester’s play A Flea in Her Ear.
An adaptation of Georges Feydeau’s Boulevard farce which is translated by Frank Galati, the play’s action has been moved to the 1960s in order to heighten the sexual allusions that bring humor to the production.
The action throughout the play follows the pattern of the original, and brings out the jealousies and misconceptions that lay within each of the characters.
In this case, things start to go amiss when Victor Debonshe, a middle class insurance salesman, becomes immune to his wife Yvonne’s advances and leads her to believe that he’s taken a mistress.
To see just what lengths her husband is willing to go to when it comes to another woman, Yvonne has her friend Lucille write an anonymous letter to Victor, claiming to be completely smitten with him and proposing a rendezvous at the notorious Hotel Pussycat a’ Go-Go.
Thinking that a mistake has been made, Victor persuades his friend Maurice, a famous womanizer, to go in his place, bringing about multiple complications that Victor could never have fathomed.
Eventually, things are somehow untangled and set right, but not before the action has expanded to include a violent husband, suicidal leap, nephew with a speech defect, furious Indian fakir and interested butler, all thrown into a mixture of slamming doors, revolving beds and gunfire.
The cast includes undergraduate Reagan Heine as Yvonne Deboshe, R. Kevin Morris as Victor Deboshe, undergraduate technical theater major Alex Embry as Maurice Blade, and graduate student Lacy Lynch as Lucille H de’ H.
In order to accomplish what all involved wanted, there were many tasks and pre-production things that had to be finalized, such as casting and set design.
“It is a multilayered project, involving the efforts of many people. A set, costumes, lights, sound, makeup, hair, and props all have to be researched and designed from the designer’s imagination,” Nicole Seaman, senior stage manager said.
In order to prepare for the show, all actors involved put many hours of practice in, usually six nights a week.
“The director must hold auditions, choose actors, and decide blocking-stage movement, then relay this information to the actors and stage manager. The actors must memorize this, any information about their character, and lines. It’s a very long, detailed project that requires devotion and knowledge,” Seaman said.
On Feb. 21-24, the doors open at 7:30 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. On Sunday, Feb. 25, the doors open at 2:30 p.m. and the show starts at 3 p.m.
Anyone wanting to purchase advance tickets should call the University Playhouse at 903-886-5900 or stop by in person.
There will be no meet and greet of the actors after the show.
Admission is $3 per student, $10 per adult, $8 per senior citizen, and $3 per child under the age of 12.