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All you need is love

We interview Thrasso Petras and some of the cast of ‘The Very Ecstasy of Love’

DEPARTMENTS OF THEATRE AND STAGECRAFT & EVENT TECHNOLOG

By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

ouglas’ production of
D Goodnight Desdemona (Good

Morning Juliet) will be
wrapping up this weekend, but not
to worry! Lined up next is the much
larger ensemble piece, The Very
Ecstasy of Love. In anticipation of the
play’s premiere this Friday, March
16, we spoke to director Thrasso
Petras and got a few words from
actors and Douglas students Emma
Hughes and Zach Blumke.

What can you tell us about The
Very Ecstasy of Love?
Thrasso Petras: “The play that
we adapted is the Charles Mee/
Stephen Greenblatt play Cardenio,
and they took their story from a
play called Double Falsehood, which
is written by [Lewis] Theobald, and
[Theobald] claimed that he adapted
[his play] from a play co-written
by Shakespeare and [John] Fletcher
[also called Cardenio], and part of
that story comes from Don Quixote.

Charles Mee’s whole thing is,
“please take this work and adapt it
to fit your own cultural mores and
your own specific style of creating
theatre,” so it fits really well for
us because it’s a group of students
and we're trying always to find
plays that suit the students. It’s
really great to have a play [where]
you can go, “okay, we can change
this any way we want to suit the
strengths of this cast.”

You get to be more of a
creator as the actor than you
normally would, where [you’d be]
interpreting somebody else’s work.
In this case, if you want to bring
your own creative process to alter
the actual circumstances of the text,
you can.”

What's the play about?

TP: “Literally, it’s about these
two people that get married, and
then actually fall in love with
other people... at their wedding
reception.

[There’s] this idea [in] a lot of
Shakespearian comedies that love
is inexplicable. Everyone writes
about it, talks about it all the time,
but why does it happen, or why
does it not happen? One minute,
someone’s your entire life, and then
the next minute [it’s] done—or vise
versa. [Or] you meet somebody...
and two days later you’re
inseparable, and you can’t imagine
being without them.

In one sense it’s [a] ludicrous,
ridiculous thing, [but]... it
happens all the time. Again, from
a Shakespearian point of view,

8

he writes about those sorts of
situations a lot in his comedies.
[That one is] completely consumed
and it alters [their] life. Ultimately
we re making fun of that, but at the
core of [The Very Ecstasy of Love],
there [are] four very specific [types
of] relationships... it’s a catalogue
of relationships.”

Can you describe the experience of
adapting the play?

TP: “It was Allan and I initially, but
then it’s also the ensemble.

A lot of the work that we’re
doing [is] in terms of when Charles
Mee talks about cultural mobility;
[we’re doing] physical theatre,
stylized theatre—I’m interested
in taking things and abstracting
them. If you go online and look at
some of the other companies that
looked [Cardenio] up and adapted
it, they’re often working in similar
ways, too.

There’s a big history of that
kind of thing in Eastern Europe,
Asia, South America, so you'll
get a product that’s a lot more
heightened. At the same time as
we're going along, I realize that the
Shakespearian foundation of this
story demands that kind of work.
If you try to do this piece as just a
100 per cent naturalistic piece, it
wouldn’t be as interesting. It would
make a much more interesting film
or television [work] as a naturalistic
piece, rather than something on
stage.”

Who are your characters in The
Very Ecstasy of Love?

Emma Hughes: “I’m playing Luisa,
and I’m the mother of the groom.
Luisa’s very over the top, but I
identify with the fact that she’s very
mothering. I consider myself very
motherly, and I like to take care of
people, [as does Luisa]—even if
[she] doesn’t always come across
that way. [Actually,] it’s more the
other way around; | think Luisa
comes [from] within me a lot more
now, [and that] I’ve become a lot
more overdramatic playing her.”
Zach Blumke: “With characters,

at least for myself, you find bits of
yourself and bits of that character
that you could use in your everyday
life. It helps build you as a person...
and reflect.

My character is Will, and [in]
the play within the play, [I’m also]
Cardenio. Will [is] caring and
considerate, but in [The Very Ecstasy
of Love], he [finds true love] within
a time frame that is completely
unreasonable... a day.”

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Directed by Thrasso Petras . Set by David Roberts .
Costumes by Trena Hollands . Lighting by John Webber

Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Theatre

Room 4100 - 4th Floor North

700 Royal Avenue, New Westminster.

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General admission $12
Seniors and students $8

 

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One block from New Westminster SkyTrain Station

What's it been like working with
director Thrasso Petras?

EH: “This is both of our second
time working with Thrasso, and

I personally love him. He is the
greatest person I’ve worked with in
theatre.”

ZB: “Yeah, I really enjoy his
directing style; how he goes about
and lets you discover the characters.
It’s a real cohesion, with everyone
working together to find what is
[behind] the play. It’s not [entirely]

 

his vision—when it says on the
poster, “[Adapted by Thrasso
Petras, Allan Lysell, and the acting
ensemble],” it really means [that].”

What: The Very Ecstasy of Love
Where: Laura C. Muir Theatre New
West campus

When: Friday March 16-Saturday
March 24

Cost: $12 General ($8 Students and
Seniors)