How curious, that only a week after writing about the upcoming linguistics program, I got to attend a musical about linguistics—a sold-out performance of West Chester University’s “My Fair Lady.” The play—which I was entirely unfamiliar with before last Friday—depicts the story of London flower-girl Eliza Doolittle shedding her Cockney accent with the (manic) assistance of Professor Henry Higgins. Along the way, the narrative makes vital observations about classism and sexism and their intersections with spoken language. WCU’s production was directed by Brenna Geffers and follows Alan Jay Lerner’s adaptation and lyrics.
The musical is staged in the E.O. Bull Center’s Main Stage Theatre. The auditorium is organized in a particularly interesting way—with seats along three of the four walls and the stage in the middle of the room. Along the fourth wall sits two piano players, on whom the entire musical relies. I found that they successfully provided the music—the omission of a full orchestra never felt like a shortcoming. The architecture of the room makes the play especially immersive. The theatre department utilizes versatile (and period-appropriate) sets; scenes transition smoothly, although the same objects remain on stage throughout the whole play. Even though the same desk, couch and bookcase were visible throughout the performance, I never had trouble distinguishing between outdoor and indoor scenes. The costumes are similarly era-appropriate and superbly designed. The production also uses inventive methods to show what is not on stage. For instance, during a horse-racing scene, the stomping of walking canes stands in for the stomping of hooves.
Perhaps the most noteworthy mise-en-scène element is the dynamic between actors “in a scene” and those “not in the scene.” The entire cast remains on stage for almost the entire play. Naturally, not everyone is in every scene—most actors usually sit somewhere along the edges of the stage. However, actors who are not in the current scene often subtly become involved in it—sometimes by as subtle of a gesture as a facial expression, sometimes through more apparent means. Everyone’s constant involvement in the telling of this story builds a lively, somewhat meta atmosphere.
Although I have no expertise in English dialects, nor have I ever been to England, I found a few of the English accents in the play mediocre—not the gusto with which the lines were delivered, just the pronunciation of some words. The one accent that seemed flawless in every line delivered, however, was Charley Bloomfield’s. While I had trouble understanding what purpose his character—Colonel Hugh Pickering—served during much of the story, I found that Bloomfield’s speech was perfectly in line with my concept of a London accent. Another impressive linguistic performance was that of Emma Johnson, whose role as Doolittle demanded that she spoke both in Cockney and in so-called “proper” English. Johnson’s singing was even more enthralling than her acting—I considered her the best singer in a cast of good singers.
I believe that my favorite performance—the one that I found most engaging—was James Saracina as Henry Higgins. Saracina practically explodes on stage. His character is by far the most animated and eccentric, and Saracina plays the role with adequate passion and lunacy. The arguments between Doolittle and Higgins are, in fact, my favorite moments in the play. These scenes, especially the one where Doolittle throws slippers at Higgins, are the fiercest and most affecting ones. The overall banter between the four characters in Higgins’ house constituted my favorite part of the play; their interactions resulted in several funny and charming moments.
West Chester University’s rendition of this record-breaking 1950s Broadway show is playing on Nov 13, 14 and 15 at 7:30pm in the E.O. Bull Center’s Main Stage Theatre. The play contains one intermission. Tickets range from $13 to $16 and may be purchased online or at the E.O. Bull Center’s box office. If you would like to attend a showing of “My Fair Lady,” (and in case I have not made it obvious, I recommend that you do) I suggest that you rush to wcupa.edu/TheatreDanceTickets—shows are rapidly selling out!
Christoforos Sassaris is a third-year student majoring in English with minors in computer science and creative writing. PS868710@wcupa.edu