Nothing New Under the Sun
If you come to Sheafer Theater in April to see the Department of Theater Studies' adaptation of The Inspector General by Nikolay Gogol, you will swear you are seeing a "ripped from the current headlines" drama. In fact, though, the play was written in 1836, but the headlines haven't changed all that much in the ensuing centuries.
The Special Prosecutor , playing in Sheafer Theater in April, is Jody McAuliffe's adaptation of The Inspector General , which she believes to be one of the greatest plays ever written. McAuliffe, professor of Theater Studies and Slavic and Eurasian Studies, and also the translator and director of the play, changed the setting from Russia to somewhere in the heart of the heart of America, but she didn't have to change the story line of hubris and incompetence and corruption run amok in government.
In the play, a government official is rumored to be arriving in a small town, and the news puts the local officials in a frenzy. Mistaken identity is added to the frenzy and the result is a raucous comedy.
McAuliffe changed the government official to a special prosecutor because in our culture an inspector general has no meaning. "The official in the play had to be someone who in Washington, DC has cachet--someone who has no check on him and can be perceived as out of control and dangerous--somebody who can come after you." A special prosecutor was a good solution.
McAuliffe started a file of New York Times clippings for inspiration when she began the translating and adapting of the original play. Though she finished those tasks some time back, she is continually amazed at how absolutely contemporary Gogol's work is. "The play becomes more relevant every day as news of eavesdropping and shameless bribery and posing and manipulation continue to hit the papers," she says.
"This play proves there is nothing new under the sun, and Gogol's brilliance transcends time. His play is about humanity--not about a Russian town a long time ago. We're seeing the same things now because Gogol understood that the bad behavior of government officials is innate if humans are left to their own devices with no checks."
To prepare her students who will be participating in the production, McAuliffe will serve up additional Gogol to introduce them to his surreal lens. And they will examine other absurdist treatments of modern times like Dr. Strangelove . She looks forward to helping them unravel the complexities of the play.
"The play operates on many levels," says McAuliffe. "I find the treatment of political corruption combined with Gogol's very advanced surrealism to be especially appealing. The absurdist elements and the dreamlike quality make the play wickedly funny, but also ominous," she says. "Gogol's style is so unique, I think the students and the audience will find the play wonderfully appropriate to contemporary consciousness."
The Special Prosecutor runs in Sheafer Theater April 7-15.
www.duke.edu/web/theaterstudies for play information.
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