Schoolgirl Figure Closes the Davis Center "Season of Transformation"
The Theater Program of Georgetown University concludes its "Season of Transformation" at the Davis Performing Arts Center with the darkly witty and eye-opening comedy Schoolgirl Figure from April 19-22 in the Devine Studio Theatre.
Welcome to a high school where the in-crowd is the thin-crowd. The death of Monique, reigning queen of the anorexics, kicks off a scramble for the crown; and Renee, with the help of her bulimic best friend Patty, creates the perfect plan. All she needs to do is snag the school's coveted hottie, The Bradley, out-fox her rival Jeanine, and take her body back to its pre-pubescent contours.
In the slightly distorted reality of this world, the characters' perceptions of themselves and others bring to the forefront a brutally honest portrait of our society's obsession with body image and thinness, and how eating disorders and disturbances are often the unfortunate consequences of this fixation. Through the exaggerated, absurdly comical stereotypes, Schoolgirl Figure allows humor to ease the awkwardness of talking about this subject and more serious questions to surface: Where do we draw the line between dieting and eating disorders? The psychological and cultural influences that feed the play's skewed perception of reality are presented to ring true with the audience and with the greater campus community.
Directed by Jen Rogers as part of her senior thesis project, and advised by Professor Maya Roth, Artistic Director for the Davis Performing Arts Center, this production strives to use Playwright, and DC native, Wendy MacLeod's bold, at times irreverent, humor as both a coping mechanism and as a way to break through cultural taboos about America's grave fascination with thinness. Professor Natsu Onodo provides set and costume designs for this theatrical, sometimes cartoonish world, with Dustin Maghamfar (CAS '06) designing lights.
Ms. Rogers is a senior at Georgetown College majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies: Performance in Society. During her time at Georgetown she has been involved in many Program in Performing Arts productions, acting in Theatrical Shorts (in collaboration with Nomadic Theatre); Vinegar Tom, where she was also assistant director; and most recently, Our Country's Good, by Timberlake Wertenbaker. This project grows from nearly a year of research and months of creative preparation with her collaborators.
A fitting ending to the Season of Transformation, Schoolgirl Figure promises to raise awareness, making audiences laugh and then re-think their laughter, see glimpses of themselves, and hopefully reevaluate their perceptions of eating disorders and society's worship of thinness.
Preview is Wednesday, April 19 at 8pm, with performances running Thursday, April 20 (opening night), Friday, April 21 at 8pm, and Saturday, April 22 at 2pm and 8pm. A talkback with Carol Day, director of Health Education Services, will follow one of the Saturday, April 22 matinee.
