NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Barber of Seville, a landmark play of class consciousness and madcap slapstick, will debut Friday, Feb. 18, at Neely Auditorium on the campus of Vanderbilt University.
The Vanderbilt University Theatre production of the play, written by Pierre Augustin de Beaumarchais, will be directed by Vanderbilt student Haas Regen and performed at 8 p.m. Feb. 18, 19, 20, 24, 25 and 26.
Admission is $7 for the general public, $4 for graduate students at Vanderbilt, and free for undergraduates. For reservations or ticket information, call Lisa Barksdale at 615-322-2404 or e-mail her at lisa.l.barksdale@vanderbilt.edu.
“There‘s a lot more to The Barber of Seville than the hilarity of a songwriting servant and his former master breaking into a doctor‘s household to rescue a damsel-in-distress,” said Regen, a senior from Marietta, Ga., who has acted in 10 Vanderbilt University Theatre department productions including Company, Caucasian Chalk Circle, Assassins and As You Like It.
“What we see in The Barber of Seville is the subtle beginnings of Beaumarchais‘ critique of the class system.”
Beaumarchais completed The Barber of Seville in 1772, foreshadowing the decay of the aristocracy and coming revolutions in France and the United States. Characters include a count who disguises his position to find true love and a servant who clearly believes he is the equal of any man.
Neely Auditorium is located between Sarratt Student Center and Kirkland Hall on the Vanderbilt campus. For more information, see http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/theatre/home, the Vanderbilt University Theatre department website.
Media contact: Jim Patterson, (615) 322-NEWS
Jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu