The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman is a drama written that handles a topic still extremely relevant today.
The plot is centered on an accusation of a lesbian affair between two headmistresses of an all-girls boarding school and how it destroys both women's careers, relationships, and lives.
The Children's Hour will be performed with a nod toward Bertoldt Brecht who believed that theatre should be educational, not entertaining.
"With this in mind," said director Stacy Phipps, "there are many points within the show that purposely disengage the audience from emotionally connecting to the actors onstage, thus forcing the audience to look at the bigger picture, rather than the story onstage.
"I hope the audience takes away the bigger picture. I don't need them to be swayed either way with the topic, but I do want them to think over each side carefully."
Actress Madison Auge says, "Working on this show has been such a unique experience. Getting to discuss issues with the cast really opened our eyes to how these problems are dealt with in our society and what we can do to be more aware with them. This is a production that St. Ambrose has not and will not see again for a long time."
The Children's Hour will be showing in the Studio Theatre, located in the lower level of Galvin Fine Arts Center. Tickets are $6 general admission at the door, including students. The show runs September 4-5 at 7:30 p.m., and September 6 at 3 p.m.
Cast:
Alexis Greene
Rachel Pribulsky
Rachael Honecke
Amelia Fischer
Madison Auge
Brooke Schelly
Becca Brazel
Jordan McGinnis
News
This article is a follow-up that appeared in the Theatre Newsletter October 2014.
The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman ran in the Studio Theatre of the Galvin Fine Arts Center August 4-5 with a matinee on August 6.
The show is about two women who run an all-girls boarding school. A willful student named Mary, who doesn't want to attend the school, runs away, and in order to avoid being sent back, accuses her headmistresses of having a lesbian affair. The show subsequently follows how this accusation destroys the women's lives.
The show's director, senior Stacy Phipps, wanted to conduct the performance in an educational style (theorized by Bertolt Brecht) rather than an entertaining one. Actress Alexis Greene felt the audience took away many different messages from the performance.
"For example, some people thought the show was about Mary's manipulative behavior, child psychology, and how powerful words can truly be," Greene said.
In an effort to convey these educational messages, the set design was minimalistic and everything was covered in chalkboard. Audience member Amanda Zweibohmer thought the show had an interesting take.
"[My favorite part] was when Alexis started writing on the stage," Zweibohmer said in reference to the actors using chalk to display words that were relevant to the show's lessons. The biggest moral Zweibohmer left the theatre with was, "Don't lie."
Greene was most thankful for the experience of working with her fellow actors.
"I made some really great friends from the process that are very dear to me," she said. "We all had to be extremely open with each other in the process, and it was great to work with so much talent on stage."
Share This Story
