Groundbreaking Request Concert comes to CU stage

Cornell's Department of Theatre, Film and Dance is staging Request Concert, the groundbreaking play by German playwright Franz Xaver Kroetz. Cornell senior Lauren Wells will direct the performance.

Performances will be Friday, April 23, at 4:30 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, April 24 and 25, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $2 in advance and $3 at the door. For information call 254-ARTS or visit the Schwartz Center box office weekdays, 12:30-5:30 p.m.

is the story of a woman whose ordered life is on the brink of a drastic change. The audience witnesses the woman's methodical actions and routine daily activities and begins to understand that she is a prisoner to those seemingly simple actions -- waking up, brushing her teeth, making her dinner. Her routine is at once comforting and excruciating.

Wells' adaptation of this play is set to live classical and contemporary music, including works by Bach, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Chopin and Dvorak, as well as songs by the Beatles, Apocalyptica, Metallica and Tori Amos. This production fuses music, dance and theater in a way that is visually beautiful and emotionally moving.

Interestingly, this play has no dialogue, and the action consists entirely of stage direction. "Sometimes things are best expressed without words, using only action to reveal emotion or tension," said Wells. "I personally am most moved by those moments in film and theater where there are silences. I think that was why I was initially drawn to using classical music in this piece. Classical music can speak to us without spelling it out, but amazingly it still manages to grab us and at a deeper level."

The cast includes Cornell undergraduates Agya Soni, Gia Crovatin, Anna Scott and Sally Huang. Wang Xi, Liz Hartman, Brightin Schlumpf and Melissa Todd will provide the music.