Salute to the Stage: A Digital Library

Travesties
by
Tom Stoppard

Seen in May 2005
At Long Wharf Theatre
222 Sargent Drive, New Haven, CT

Synopsis:
From StageAgent: Your Performing Arts Connection
The play's setting is primarily Zurich during World War I. Three important 20th-century personalities were living in Zurich at that time: the modernist author James Joyce, the communist revolutionary Lenin, and the Dadaist founder Tristan Tzara. The less notable English consular official Henry Carr, who is likewise a real person and was similarly in Zurich, years later recalls his perceptions and his experiences with these influential figures. As he reminisces, Carr's now geriatric memory becomes prone to distraction, and instead of predictable historical biography, these characters are interpreted through the maze of his mind.

Carr's memories are couched in a Zurich production of Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest in which he had a starring role. Stoppard uses this production and Carr's mixed feelings surrounding it as a framework to explore art, the war and revolution. Situations from Earnest feature prominently within the action. Travesties' characters also includes versions of two of Earnest's: Gwendolen and Cecily and the comedic situations of many of the other roles are shared by other characters. Stoppard uses many intellectual and theatrical devices within the play, including puns, limericks, and even a vaudeville song.

Directed by:
Gregory Boyd

Starring:
Sam Waterston as Henry Carr
Tom Hewitt as Tristan Tzara
Don Stephenson as James Joyce
Gregor Paslawsky as Lenin
Isabel Keating as Nadya
Cheryl Lynn Bowers as Gwendolyn
Maggie Lacey as Cecily
Graeme Malcolm as Bennett