EMU Theater to Stage Musical Drama
It's a musical, whimsical folk tale with a serious topic - what happens when one cultural group tries to change another one.
That's the theme of Theater at Eastern Mennonite University's spring mainstage production, "Ti-Jean and His Brothers," by Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott, Thursday-Saturday, Mar. 22-24 and again Mar. 29-31. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. in the mainstage theater of the University Commons.
Heidi Winters Vogel of EMU's theater department directs a 10-member student cast in this folk tale lush with Caribbean rhythms and smatterings of Creole while exploring the effects of colonization on Caribbean identity.
In the musical drama, the Devil challenges Ti-Jean and his brothers to a duel: if the Old Man can make them angry, he’ll devour them; if they can incite his wrath, he’ll make them wealthy. Gros-Jean with his powerful arm, Mi-Jean with his books, and Ti-Jean, the youngest, "useless as a bone," play a dangerous game with the Devil-disguised-as-Planter.
Tickets and information regarding age appropriateness are available by calling the EMU Box Office: 540-432-4582 or www.emu.edu/boxoffice. Tickets will also be available at the door.
