WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 2004
ARTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
17
THEATRE: Play gets modern makeover
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16
For a play that was written in 1771, a time period when women were submissive in society, the women in this play break the female stereotype in that time period Armstrong said.
"These are strong, competent, and clever women that are portrayed, and we are going even farther to show how competent the women are," Armstrong said. She said another one of the changes that was being made to the KST's version was the ending. In the original play, the men got the last lines, but she said they changed it so that the women got the last lines, solidifying their role in the play.
Laura Leffler-McCabe, Shawnee senior, who plays one of the young lovers Kate Hardcastle, said that for a play written in the 1700s, having women break the norm and choose who they want to marry was phenomenal.
Leffler-McCabe said the thing that made She Stoops to Conquer unique was that Armstrong allowed the cast to have such a big input into the changes that were made.
"The most rewarding thing as an actor is how much Sara has involved us in making important decisions about crucial aspects of the play," she said.
Armstrong said including the opinion of the actors made her job much easier.
"It is a collaborative project," she said. "I don't want to come in and tell them what to do because that is wasting a lot of ideas. I would rather put everyone's ideas together and make it a team project."
- Edited by Jay Senter
Courtney Kuhlen/Kansan
Cast members of She Stoops to Conquer rehearse their timings and cues. The play has been adapted for a modern audience by the Kansas Summer Theatre and Sara Armstrong, the play's director. Ensemble characters of the cast are intended to come onstage and push the comedic action.
Courtney Kuhlen/Kensan
The cast of Kansas Summer Theatre's She Stoops to Conquer rehearse in the William Inge Theatre in Murphy Hall.