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St. Olaf Theatre to present Les Belles-Soeurs

By John Andert '10
April 4, 2008

What happens when 15 brassy, greedy women are seated around a fortune they know is just a lick of a stamp away?

Les Belles-Soeurs Play Large
Students rehearse for the upcoming production of Les Belles-Soeurs.
See the drama that ensues during the St. Olaf Theatre Department's upcoming performance of Les Belles-Soeurs. Performances will be held nightly in the Kelsey Theater from Wednesday, April 9, to Saturday, April 12. All evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m. An additional matinee will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 12.

Tickets to the performance are free to St. Olaf College faculty and students. Tickets can be reserved and purchased either by calling the box office at 507-786-8987 or by going online.

Set in the back drop of 1968 Montreal, Les Belles-Soeurs ("The Sisters-in-Law") tells the tale of a middle-aged, worn-out woman, Germaine Lauzon, who has received one million stamps from a sweepstakes she entered. Upon receiving her reward, she must paste the stamps in booklets to redeem her prizes. She calls on a group of brassy women including her sisters, daughters, friends and neighbors to help her. They talk about many things, such as church, men and even the joys of Bingo, but when the women are almost finished pasting the stamps into the booklets, Germaine notices that she is slowly being robbed of her stamps.

This tragicomedy examines the oppression of women and how women also can oppress one another. Each woman in this play competes, struggles and ultimately views herself as the victim -- in service to everyone else's dreams but her own. "The play brings up issues about competition and the ills of comparing ourselves too closely to those around us," director and artist-in-residence Dona Freeman '80 says. "Some might say that St. Olaf is a competitive place, where many feel they work and work and still never feel quite 'good enough.'"

A thought-provoking production
One of Canada's greatest playwrights, Michel Tremblay wrote Les Belles-Soeurs in 1967, and two years later the play had its professional debut in Montreal. Les Belles-Soeurs has arguably been one of Tremblay's most controversial plays in Quebec culture due to the use of dialect and the role of women.

Having been translated many times, Tremblay originally wrote Les Belles-Soeurs in joual, which was a dialect commonly used in the first half of the 20th century by the Montreal working class and has become a symbol of national identity for artists from that area. The play also is controversial because it portrays working-class women actually doing working-class things.

Finding the right cast
Directing comedies is one of Freeman's passions. Having been on the St. Olaf faculty since 1997, she has directed many shows, including Pippin, Nickel and Dimed, A Winter's Tale, The Seagull, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, The Heidi Chronicles and Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night.

"In the fine arts, we not only get to teach the subjects we love, but we also get to use that knowledge to create with our students," Freeman says.

For this production, Freeman had to find enough actresses to accommodate such a large cast. "I needed to find 15 women who would make big choices and say 'Yes!' to inventing characters that are both hilarious and vulnerable," Freeman says. "I am very pleased with the cast."

Working together
Working collaboratively with students is what Freeman enjoys most about directing. "It is a thrill to see the same actors I watch in class get to put their skills to the test in rehearsal and performance," she says.

It is also evident that the students thoroughly enjoy working collaboratively with the director and cast. "I enjoy that the entire process requires collaboration between everyone involved in the show," says Kyle Carlson '08, light designer for the show. "I also enjoy the ability I have to visually affect the action taking place onstage, whether it be an obvious shift from realistic lighting to something more theatrical, or the subtle manipulation of light to change the mood or shift the audience's focus."

Assistant Student Director Nicholas Thompson '10 says the entire cast plays "nasty characters," but notes that all of the characters are different. One of his favorite lines from the play helps set up the cruel undertone of tragicomedy: "We don't always know when we fall, but when we get back up, it's too late."

"It's full of energy and fun, but with the underbelly of rotten hypocrisy and greed," he says. "I'm looking forward to that time when the show becomes a work of art."

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.