Students Conquer New Challenges for Comedy

DeSales University’s Act 1 Theater Season presents the 1773 Irish comedy She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith opening next Wednesday, and from the very beginning this production called for something extra from all involved. The Theater Department selects plays for each season by committee, and this was director and Associate Professor Anne Lewis’s personal choice.

“What we try to do within the season is do one piece that is challenging from a literary standpoint, from an acting standpoint, from a design standpoint,” Lewis says. A proponent of classical work, Lewis selected She Stoops to Conquer because it challenges students in all three ways.

“You cannot stand the way you’re accustomed to standing. You cannot speak the way you’re accustomed to speaking,” says Lewis.

Michael Liiro, junior at DeSales and Stage Manager for the show, says, “It’s a tough show – the accents, the comedic timing.” The language of the play has proven a task for the performers, and students have risen to the challenge.

Senior Chris Stevens is filling his first period role on stage as Sir George Hastings, and says of the language, “It’s intimidating because it’s so precise!” Despite the ease of reading the play, performing the text for an audience requires something more. “You have to be able to convey the message in the way it was written,” says Stevens.

Junior Adriana Stigliano is playing Mrs. Hardcastle, whom she describes as a “comedic villain”. Her role has required her to rehearse in period-accurate undergarments, including bulky panniers at her hips, which adjust her posture and walk. Stigliano’s friends and family will be traveling to see her perform in a way she never has before.

“They’re going to be surprised, but ecstatic to see me doing something so out-of-the-box,” says Stigliano.

The production team has been working since January, when they returned from their winter break, to get this show ready for opening. In the costume shop, where the 18^th century fashions come to life, a crew of 17 students has put in over 200 man hours each week, building gowns and coats and even three full sets of period undergarments: corsets, panniers, and petticoats that will give the clothing the correct silhouette.

Costume shop manager Anna Light has enjoyed teaching her crew new feats of sewing. “DeSales often does 20^th century shows, so it’s wonderful for the students to get the experience of building period costumes,” she says. The costumes for the show were designed by Associate Professor and resident Costume Designer Amy Best, with two student assistants.

The stage set includes a steel frame overlaid with wood and a moving staircase that will help change the scene from interior to exterior throughout the action of the play. Projections will also set the scene throughout performances, as students learn technology along with tools.

Director Anne Lewis is proud of her students for the ways in which they have adapted to suit the work. In the end, she says, “It’s been really fun!” Her enthusiasm is echoed by the students, and will help She Stoops to Conquer to prove both entertaining and satisfying.