January 26, 2006

Modernized 'Bovary' opens Jan. 27

This winter, Northwestern will present “Madame Bovary,” a play based on French novelist Gustave Flaubert’s best-known work, written in 1857, about one of the most compelling heroines in modern literature. The stage production is part of Northwestern’s continuing 25th anniversary theatre season celebration and features a student cast.

“Madame Bovary” will be performed on the Evanston campus at 8 p.m. Jan. 27; 8 p.m. Jan. 28; 2 p.m. Jan. 29; 8 p.m. Feb. 1; 8 p.m. Feb. 2; 8 p.m. Feb. 3; 8 p.m.  Feb. 4; and 2 p.m. Feb. 5, at the Josephine Louis Theater.

The drama spotlights the life of Emma Bovary as she revolts against the ordinariness of her marriage by pursuing dreams of ecstasy and love.

To make the nearly 150-year old classic tale more appealing to 21st century audiences, Paul Edwards, associate professor of performance studies and director of Undergraduate Studies in performance studies, has modernized the story.

“The narrators are people who are reading the book in the 1960s,” said Edwards, of his third and latest adaptation of the story. “The production has the feel of the wonderful staging of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ that we produced a season ago.

For ticket information, call (847) 491-7282.