The Walls Will Shake at Duke This Fall
Senior Theater Studies major Marshall Botvinick knew instantly when he read The Walls by Argentinean playwright Griselda Gambaro that he had found his senior honors project. "A friend of mine had studied Gambaro in a Latin-American theater class," says Botvinick, "and knowing my tastes in theater, he recommended that I read some of her work." So with his play chosen, he proposed a directing honors project to the Theater Studies department; his proposal was accepted, and Botvinick will direct a production of The Walls that runs from November 16-19 in 209 East Duke.
One of Argentina's foremost contemporary novelists and dramatists, Gambaro has not been without controversy. She spent the years between 1977 and 1980 in Spain in political exile following the banning of one of her books in Argentina.
Although Gambaro's themes are adapted to the contemporary Argentinean reality, her writing reveals the influence of the principal European dramatists and novelists of the twentieth century.
"Much like Kafka's The Trial ," Botvinick explains, " The Walls deals with a man who has been inexplicably charged with a crime, and as a result, he, ironically, is being detained in a well-furnished room. However, during the course of the play, the walls of the room begin to collapse on him, symbolizing the dispossession of both his space and ultimately his humanity .
"I see this play as very pertinent to the current happenings in our country," says Botvinick. "While America is far from a totalitarian state and will continue to remain so, I believe, there are still many sinister actions being taken by our government, such as detaining prisoners without charging them with a formal crime. Unfortunately, most people, like the Young Man in The Walls , find ways to either ignore or deny this reality. They look at our country's art and wealth and find it impossible to believe that people are being dispossessed of their basic rights."
Botvinick plans to offer the Duke community something distinctive in his production of The Walls . "Visually, The Walls will be very different from the kind of theater that is usually produced at Duke," he says. "The play begins by using the basic convention of naturalism, setting it in a domestic space; however, the play turns that convention on its head by transforming the space from a traditional living room into a claustrophobic, compressed, grotesque living room."
While the play may sound dark, Botvinick insists there are light interludes. "There are quite a few humorous moments in the text," he says. "The play wouldn't work if the audience was bombarded with images of cruelty without having some humor to add color to an otherwise black piece."
And there will be familiar music to set the tone, although the music will be a vehicle of irony, as Botvinick notes. "I plan on using a selection of Bach pieces to set the mood for the piece since for me Bach represents luxury, high culture, and art--the very things that the young man's jailers cite as proof that there is nothing abnormal or sinister about his situation."
Botvinick will hold auditions for his three-man cast along with other directors of Theater Studies productions for the fall season. He looks forward to guiding his actors and creative team through the textured world Gambaro has created in The Walls .
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