Comic & Tragic Scenes from the most famous English & American literary works.
An overview of the eight scenes that will be presented in the show:
*In the tragedy
The witches from Macbeth by the genius William Shakespeare:
Analysing the Role of the Witches in William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” William Shakespeare wrote Macbeth in 1606. It was one of the greatest tragedies of his many works as a playwright and was written for King James 1st who harboured a morbid and fevered fascination with witchcraft and the supernatural. “Macbeth” explores the themes of evil, ambition, violence, guilt, order and disorder and is based on actual events in the history of Scotland of which James as James 6th was also King. The play itself carries a bad omen as it is considered unlucky to say “Macbeth” when performing it therefore it has been awarded the title “The Scottish Play.” During the 16th and 17th centuries people held an obsession for witchcraft that was unconsciously fed by the ideals of the Puritanical church and the conviction that by persecuting these women morality and religion were being upheld. Witches were held to possess unbelievable powers; predicting the future, flying and killing animals with plagues or poxes…
The Tragical History of The Life and Death of Dr. Faustus by Shakespeare’s rival Christopher Marlowe:
For a play that has retained much of its scholarly value over the four hundred and ten years, there is surprisingly little known about Christopher Marlowe’s masterpiece, The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. The date of its first performance is unknown, and is highly obscured by the added facts that there are two texts of Doctor Faustus, one published in 1604; the other in 1616 (Ribner VIII). Christopher Marlowe, even in these early times, set a standard for tragic plays, which would not be rivaled until Shakespeare unleashed his literary landmarks at around the same time Marlowe’s career ended. Despite the lack of specifics on this seminal work, it is still easy to feel the pain Christopher Marlowe wished to convey with this text. Within the rich dialogue of The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Christopher Marlowe attempts to communicate a personal struggle; both emotional and spiritual, between what Marlowe views as human nature and what the world views as God’s desires for man, and the overwhelming feelings of loss which accompany this struggle…
*In the comedy of manners
The Way of The World by William Congreve:
LADY WISHFORT has a daughter MRS FAINALL, a niece MILLAMANT and a nephew SIR WILFULL WITWOUD. Millamant has two admirers, WITWOUD and PETULANT. Millamant's money is held in trust by her aunt, and if she marries without Lady Wishfort's consent half of it passes to Mrs Fainall. MIRABELL has previously had an affair with Mrs Fainall but is now in love with Millamant. When Mrs Fainall was thought to be pregnant Mirabell arranged for her to marry his penniless friend FAINALL. Mirabell has angered Mrs Marwood by rejecting her advances and Lady Wishfort by flirting with her to gain entry to her house where Millamant and her maid MINCING also live. Mirabell plans to get both Millamant and her fortune by dressing his servant WAITWELL as his uncle Sir Rowland and have him seduce Lady Wishfort ~ she will agree to marry him to disinherit Mirabell, and be publicly embarrassed when he is revealed to be only a servant. Mirabell will then be able to step in to release her from the contract, on condition that he may have Millamant and all her fortune. He has married Waitwell to Lady Wishfort's servant FOIBLE as security that morning. When they discover his plan, Fainall and Mrs Marwood try to turn the tables by revealing Mrs Fainall's affair with Mirabell, on condition that Lady Wishfort turn over all her estate to Fainall.
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Contemporary reviews all praised the play's humour, though some were cautious about its explicit lack of social messages, while others foresaw the modern consensus that it was the culmination of Wilde's artistic career so far. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play.
*In the Theatre of Absurd
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's premiere. It was voted "the most significant English language play of the 20th century" Waiting for Godot is Beckett's translation of his own original French version, En attendant Godot, and is subtitled (in English only) "a tragicomedy in two acts". The original French text was composed between 9 October 1948 and 29 January 1949. The première was on 5 January 1953 in the Théâtre de Babylone, Paris. The production was directed by Roger Blin, who also played the role of Pozzo.
“The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe. [First published in 1845]
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| By Khaled Ferjani |
Everything has started in one of the classrooms of IPELSH (Institut Preparatoire des Langues et Sciences Humaines de Tunis). Every year M. Selima Lejri, a Drama teacher at the IPELSHT, opens the door of the Workshop to every student who is interested in theatre. The opportunity is alluring mainly to English students, because the workshop is an outlet to practice English in an unorthodox way. Indeed, they are English students from different levels third year, second year students and a first year student from IPELSHT.
It has been eight years now that M. Selima Lejri invites her students to the world of theatre. This year, The IPELSHT Company will be representing its miscellaneous show on the 20th of June at 5:30 at Maison DE La Culture Ibn Khaldoune.
Eight Scenes from variety of famous plays will be played. In the tragedy, there are two performances. The witches’ scene is an extract from Macbeth by the genius William Shakespeare. The witches will be played by Khawla Bouyahya, Ameni Znagui and Aisha Khalfaoui. The Last monologue is another extract which is from The Tragicall History of The Life and Death of Dr. Faustus by Shakespeare’s rival Christopher Marlowe. The role of Dr. Faustus will be played by Chaima Bizani and the devils will be acted by Aida Teyeb and Nadia Hammami. In the comedy of manners, two scenes from two different centuries will be performed. A scene from The Way of The World will be played by Nouha Habouria as Lady Wishfort and Rania Hannachi as the servant. The play was written by William Congreve in the late of 17th century. Moreover, a scene from The Importance of Being Earnest will be played by Cyrine Mami as Gwendolen Fairfax, Hend Hassassi as Cecily Cardew, Rania Hannachi as the servant, Oumayma Ben Abdallah as John Worthing, and Khawla Bouyahya as Algernon Moncrieff. The play was written by Oscar Wilde in the late of 19th century. Two other modern plays from the American literature will be performed on stage. “The Custom’s Officer” will be acted by Cyrine Mami (the officer), Samia Fitouri (the spy), Aida Teyeb and Nadia Hammami (the two bodyguards), and Aisha Khalfaoui (the passenger). The other modern play is ”The Dentist”. The play takes place at a dentist’s cabinet where a woman Rania Hannachi and a man Chaima Bizani are waiting for the dentist. The crazy dentist, Khawla Bouyahya will petrify them. In the end, the crazy dentist will turn to be an imposter and finally the real dentist Aida Teyeb will show up. In the Theatre of Absurd, the audience will enjoy watching an extract from Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. The scene takes place between Estragon and Vladimir who will be acted by Rania Hannachi and Samia Fitouri. Last but not least, a new challenge that our stage director Miss Lejri and the team have engaged in which is to perform a poem on the stage. The poem is “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe. The stage directing mainly reflects Miss Lejri’s reading to the poem. It is indeed one of the most exciting experiences. For this, a protagonist (Rania Hannachi), narrators, Sarra Jouini, Nadia Hammami, Nouhe Habouria and Aida Teyeb , The ghost of Lenore,Aisha Khalfaoui, and the raven, Aida Teyeb will be performing “The Raven”.
Chaima Bizani said ;
"As a part of the company, I am proud to say that the team has worked very hard under the supervision of our stage director M.Selima Lejri who has done her best to encourage us and guide us. Each member has sacrificed with their free time to make this show. Indeed, the show represents the fruit of hard work and memorable times. I personally enjoyed being part of such ambitious team with such passionate mentor. Despite the lack of funds, we managed to create our props. Despite the lack of organization of Maison de la culture Ibn Khaldoune, we managed to rehearse. We have done our best to make our dream come true. We hope you come and enjoy the journey with us" .
An interview done by RTCI
The event on Facebook
