BRATTLEBORO — New England Youth Theatre's (NEYT) annual fundraising gala on Friday, April 19, has a decidedly French flavor.
An “Evening of Comédie Italienne and Cuisine Française” is a celebration centered on fine food, wine, and an updated, hilarious “Scapin,” based on a play by Molière, France's king of comedy.
“Scapin,” featuring two casts of student actors, runs at NEYT, 100 Flat St., from April 11 to 20. The April 19 gala is from 6 to 10 p.m.
That night local chefs will provide a delicious French menu set off by an assortment of fine wines, pastries, and chocolate truffles. Dinner music is performed by Deniz Cordell. There also will be a silent auction for vacation, food, and arts packages.
The centerpiece of the evening is NEYT senior company's new production of “Scapin,” Bill Irwin and Mark O'Donnell's English adaptation of “Les Fourberies de Scapin,” (literally, “Scapin's Deceits,”) Molière's three-act comedy first staged in 1671 in Paris.
Irwin and O'Donnell also starred in their original Broadway production. Stephen Stearns directs.
The story follows a wily servant who helps his young master win the girl of his dreams over the objections of fathers, rivals, and others. Variety notes the Scapin character is drawn from some of the same sources as Pseudolus in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”
NEYT is presenting this gala evening in lieu of its traditional spring fundraising appeal letter, hoping to meet their funding goals and have fun at the same time.
Tickets are $60, covering food, drink and performances, with all proceeds directly benefitting the students of New England Youth Theatre.
Sponsors are Brattleboro Savings and Loan and Foard Panel.
NEYT graduating seniors Henry Weisel and Alec Silver will be featured as the two servants, Scapin and Sylvester, who get themselves into the wildest and most ridiculous scrapes.
“Scapin” is sprinkled with references to modern movies, and loaded with fabulous word- and sword-play, slapstick, pratfalls, and riotous chase scenes. It is billed as family friendly, with sight gags to delight the young at heart “and topical humor to satisfy the most sophisticated intellectual.”
That said, some parents may not want their kids exposed to the show's sometime bawdy humor.
According to Jessica Gelter, NEYT's director of publicity, French cuisine is the order of the day, with local business supplying crêpes, quiches, and lots of local produce.
Jasmine Bakery will provide mini-éclairs, Putney Inn will supply the wine, and Darlene Jenson, who works at NEYT in the Theatre Adventure Program, will serve chocolate truffles at intermission.
New mission statement
NEYT, which offers musicals and plays, as well as theater classes for students in pre-K to 12th grade, is also using the gala to celebrate its new mission statement, adopted March 13, refocusing the organization on whole-child education such that “theater professionals partner with students in a creative world of drama where possibilities are endless.”
In addition to the gala fundraiser, there will be nine other performances of “Scapin” this month, from April 11 until April 20. Evening performances are at 7 p.m.; matinees are at 2 p.m.
Says the director...
“Get ready to laugh, because you'll start at the curtain and your sides will hurt by intermission” says director Stephen Stearns.
Stearns says he is taking inspiration from his favorite comedians: Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, the Marx Brothers, Monty Python, and “Saturday Night Live's” Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, and John Belushi.
“Anything can happen in this outrageous comedy; we're pushing the envelope on ridiculousness,” Stearns says.
“Scapin” will be performed in the style of Commedia dell'Arte, a form of theater that began in Italy in the 16th century. Such characters usually stand in for fixed social types such as foolish old men, devious servants, or military officers full of false bravado.
Gelter says, “For the NEYT actors performing in this play, what has been challenging about this style is that each character has its own set posture, way of walking, and way of speaking. NEYT are engaged in in-depth learning about Commedia, the historical character types, and their relevance to all realms of storytelling today.”
This show boasts a cast of 25 students. NEYT graduating seniors Henry Weisel and Alec Silver, who play the leads, are on NEYT's professional track. This play was selected as a vehicle for those two students to enhance their training by being cast in challenging lead roles.
Weisel and Silver will accompany Stearns on a post-”Scapin” adventure of teaching and performing at NEYT's satellite program in St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.