Theatrical Twain
American humourist’s long dead play rediscovered:
Ruwanthi Abeyakoon
 The chatter and laughter bang against the walls. The atmosphere is
one of merriment, with buzzing life. All of a sudden, silence falls and
activities halt. Shedding away the playfulness of the youth, leaving the
books behind, they cloak themselves with shrewdness, gentleness or
compassion the character require. Word by word, line by line leave their
lips and as they breathe the characters of the play spring to life.
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Aristocracy |
These are the students of Elizabeth Moir School. They are all geared
up for the annual school play. The school which last year enacted
Antigone, a tragedy by Sophocles, has deviated from the seriousness and
this year will present a comedy.
Is He Dead? is the name of the play. This is a highly entertaining
comedy of three-acts written by one of America’s well-loved writers and
humourist, Mark Twain, who is noted for his works: Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn (1885) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Written
in 1898 in Vienna as Twain emerged from one of the deepest depressions
of his life, the play shows its author’s superb gift for humor operating
at its most energetic.
Is He Dead? remained unpublished until it was rediscovered and
resurrected in 2002 by Twain scholar Shelley Fisher Fishkin, an English
professor and director of the American Studies Program at Stanford
University. It was published the following year by the University of
California Press.
Later, Twain’s long dead script was restructured and adapted by David
Ives who gave newness to the play and turned the three-act comedy into a
two-act. The Broadway production of the adapted version of Is He Dead?
received many accolades. There onwards Is He Dead? was available to the
wide audience Mark Twain wished it to reach.
Rajinda Jayasinghe who directs the play together with Gayatri
Natarajan voiced his thoughts.
“The cast consists of about 17 students of 13 to 17 years of age. The
main character of Jean-François Millet is played by Aaron Tull-Dare. The
students will be presenting the adapted version of David Ives.”
Jayasinghe said.
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Wry look at the world market in art |
Lighthearted scenes |
“The students have been practising the play for more than a month and
they enjoy it. They get into their characters well. This production will
expand their creative horizons,” he added.
The plot revolves around the prolific but poor Millet. Gorgeous
canvases, including his famous ‘The Gleaners’, Millet’s studio outside
Paris. However, even at bargain basement prices, the paintings don’t
sell. While Millet’s kind landladies are willing to accept them in lieu
of the monthly rent, the play’s chief villain, Bastien André , an
unscrupulous picture dealer and money-lender, wants the debt Millet has
run up paid back in francs.
Basil Thorpe, a more appreciative but no less crass art collector,
declares that much as he loves Millet’s pictures he never buys works by
living artists since paintings by dead artists are more valuable (“The
deader he is, the better he is.”), Thorpe’s philosophy inspires Millet’s
loyal friends and students to cook up the hoax that will make their
friend rich and famous —and that turns the practice of undervaluing
contemporary art into a delicious door slamming farce.
Richly intermingling elements of mockery, farce and social satire
with a wry look at the world market in art Is He Dead? is indeed very
appealing. It may have been out there for the Victorian 1890s, but
today’s readers will absolutely enjoy Mark Twain’s well-crafted
dialogue, intriguing cast of characters and, above all, his
characteristic ebullience and humor.
Mark Twain was fascinated by the theatre and made many attempts at
playwriting, but this play is certainly his best. The play will take
stage at the Lionel Wendt Theatre, 18, Guildford Crescent, Colombo 7 on
February 18 and 19. So here is a chance for all the stage drama lovers
to witness the talents of the young students of Elizabeth Moir School
and take home a bit of the great writer Mark Twain. |
