College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

• September 20, 2007
  

  Farce by Nobel Prize-winning playwright opens ISU Theatre season

• It's a cliché but Sarah Zwick-Tapley's going to say it anyway.

  "The show really is nothing but non-stop laughs," the ISU Theatre faculty member says of the play she's directing this October - a play she compares to the television classics "The Honeymooners" and "I Love Lucy."

  The fast-paced farce, "We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay!" will open ISU Theatre's 2007-08 season. The contemporary play was written by Dario Fo, a Nobel Prize-winning author whom Zwick-Tapley says has "taken on every major institution in the world from the Mafia to the Vatican."

  It's capitalism that takes it on the chin in "We Won't Pay!" The plot is set in present day Italy where inflation and unemployment have collapsed the economy. Prices of groceries are going through the roof, causing one poor Italian girl to stuff bags of food up her sweater and pretend to be pregnant.

  The play features characters that are easily recognizable - from the downtrodden everyman to the slutty beautician and the sleazy, greasy mechanic. Zwick-Tapley says the protagonists of "We Won't Pay!" are driven by their collective hungers to break free from the constraints in which their poverty has confined them.

  But this farce is not only a laugh a minute, but also one that has a message.

  "We laugh at the characters' antics but they feel real pain," Zwick-Tapley says. "The play is a farce for entertainment purposes but Dario Fo has a message - the characters must choose between being a good person and surviving."

  Cast members of "We Won't Pay!" include Mariana Seda, Antonia; Jeff Mason, Giovanni; Chris King, Luigi; Kira Ashby, Marghertia; and Mat Wymore, who portrays the sergeant, trooper and gravedigger.

  "We Won't Pay!" will be presented by ISU Theatre Oct. 5-6, 13 and 20 at 7:30 p.m., as well as Oct. 7, at 2 p.m. Each production will be held in the Fisher Theater on campus.

  Tickets are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and $7 for students and children. All ISU Theatre tickets are available at the Iowa State Center Ticket office at 515-294-2479.
  

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