"Largo Desolato" comes to Black Box Theatre

In Vaclav Havel's "Largo Desolato," Professor Leopold Nettles pens a paragraph in his book, The Ontology of the Human Ego, that has the authorities irked. He is arrested on charges of disturbing "the intellectual peace."

The government offers him a deal: deny he wrote the paragraph and all charges will be dropped. His friends urge him to stand up to the government and "be a hero and stand fast."

Nettles, frightened, is tortured by his internal demons and must deal with a string of external pressures. 

"But despite his fears he wishes to stand by his words. Every ring of the doorbell brings him nearer to crisis. Meanwhile, he puts off the government agents for time to think it over," an release stated.

The Burbage Theatre Company will be exploring the struggles of the intellectual in a totalitarian state when it performs the play at the Black Box Theatre in the Artists' Exchange beginning tomorrow.

Irving Wardle writes in The Times of London, "Largo Desolato in Tom Stoppard's version emerges as a wonderfully comic and unself-pitying piece... What Havel is writing about is the readiness with which society urges some isolated champion to fight its battles. And the brilliance of the piece is that it extends beyond its own country to the civil rights public at large. To me, sitting comfortably in a Bristol hotel, cheering Havel on to take his next prison sentence on the chin it takes a comic writer of genius to make something funny out of that."

Tom Stoppard adapted the play in English. The original, by Vaclav Havel, was likely inspired by Havel's frequent frictions with the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. He was imprisoned from 1979 to 1984 and all his plays were once banned. He became a member of the Velvet Revolution in 1989 that led to the fall of Communism in the country. He later became the first President of the new Czech Republic.

The play will be performed on June 2, 4, 9 and 11. All performances start at 8 p.m. at the Black Box Theatre. Tickets are $15, $10 for students. Reservations are available by emailing btctheater@gmail.com.

Cast

Leopold Nettles........ Alex Duckworth

Edward..................... Brendan Macera.

Suzana..................... Kelli Noonan

 First Sidney.............. Ryan Hanley

Second Sidney......... Michael Kinnane

Lucy.......................... Dani Cameron

Bertram.................... Jeff Church 

First Chap................. Justin Paige

Second Chap............ Nicholas Thibeault

Marguerite................. Gabbie Whitney