Student theater: Gaga and Beyoncé living the high life

Danielle Elliott

Staff Writer

Molière’s 17th century satire, “Two Precious Maidens Ridiculed,” comes to VCU’s Singleton Center this weekend with a few contemporary twists.

For starters: leading roles Catherine and Magdalene have been renamed Gaga and Beyoncé.

Director Josh Chenard’s modern rewrite is being brought to life by an all-undergrad cast and crew.

Chenard said he didn’t have much trouble deciding what piece to adapt.

“This is the fifth Molière play I’ve directed. Sometimes I like to do it really proper with the proper costumes, and it’s a really highly stylized piece. Sometimes it’s fun just to do something new,” Chenard said.

He said he felt like now is the perfect time to adapt a play such as Molière’s to modern times because of its ever-blurring line between reality and illusion.

“I’ve always loved this script, and I had the right actors to want to do it, and it seemed like the right time to do it,” Chenard said. “With all of this reality TV, and you can get news on your phone … It all fits in with the play, so it seemed like a really good time.”

This new modern adaptation gives both Chenard and his actors plenty of creative liberty.

“If I was doing it proper restoration style, I’d care very much how the ladies are sitting, how the men are standing, how they bow to each other,” he said. “All of that takes a lot of time and preparation; people don’t really know that, but that kind of work takes years of training to get right,” Chenard said.

“We just did ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ here at VCU, and that was very stylized so I thought, ‘Let’s show something different,’ ” he added.

Re-writing a 17th century play about two ill-informed country girls trying to live the high life was something of a challenge, Chenard said. But despite any troubles, he described a new and exciting creative effort as completely worth it.

“This is the 30th play I’ve directed. I’ve never laughed as hard as I have during rehearsals doing this play,” Chenard said. “We really all worked together to bring these crazy people to life.” CT

“Two Precious Maidens Ridiculed” plays at the Raymond Hodges Theatre in the Singleton Center, Feb. 11–12 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 13 at 2 p.m.