The Illusion is a play written by playwright Tony Kushner, loosely adapted from Pierre Corneille’s play titled L’Illusion Comique.The play begins with Pridamant entering into a dark cave, asking for the magician named Alcandre. With the help of Alcandre’s magical powers, Pridamant can find his estranged son and see what his life is like through magical visions. The play continues with Pridamant and Alcandre watching these visions as Pridamant son’s life unfolds in front of him.Paramount’s son is trying to win the affection of young Melibea, but too much surmise, forces conspire against their relationship.
King’s College Theatre decided to tackle the Illusion in their acting season. For this rendition of the play, King’s invited guest artist James Goodwin to act as the Amanuensis and is directed by M. Sheileen Godwin. The cast consisted of the school’s theatre majors; some were newcomers, and other were King’s College acting veterans. Their acting was comedic.With every line, the cast made the audience laugh, even though much of the subject matter was dark and dismal.
The stage was a thrust stage, which allowed the audience to see the actors more clearly than that of other stage designs. The props upon the primary stage consisted of broken things that one would see in a junkyard, a broken refrigerator, a moldy couch, jars and containers, and a warped podium upon which Alcandre positioned himself to talk to Pridamant and project his visions. On the side of the primary stage, the actors sat in chairs, waiting to enter the stage.
The costumes used in the play looked dated from the 50’s instead of the 17th century that the play takes place. The music and lighting were used to distinguish the difference between the two worlds, the world in which Pridamant and Alcandre exist in, watching as the visions unfold, and the world of Pridamant’s son, Calisto trying to win the love of Malibea. Throughout the play, the audience parallels with the main character of Pridamant, as they watch him see excerpts of his son’s life. The audience experiences a roller coaster of emotions as the visions become different each time the characters change names, which alarms the audience at first, for viewers expect stories to have consistency.
From a literal and interpretive level, King’s production of the play helped the audience understand that not everything is what it seems. Intellectually the play makes one question what is real and not real. The director’s vision of the play differed from the original script. One thing that it differed in was how the director treated the ending of the play. The director added a scene at the end that makes the audience question if Alcandre was a real or not. As a work of art, the play makes the audience question what’s an illusion and what is not.
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