The Tech Players began their spring show last night, Hands Around (Reigen), before a crowded Backdoor Playhouse.Originally written in 1900 by Arthur Schnitzler, the play deals with sexual morals and class ideology. The action unfolds through a series of ten dialogues occurring before or after a sexual encounter between two characters of different stature.
The play was originally set in Vienna in the 1890s, but due to the “modern” feel, Director Mark Creter changed from Austria.
“This play is definitely for a mature audience,” Creter said.
In fact, when Schnitzler first began circulating the play only among friends. The first public performance occurred in 1920, when it created a storm of controversy over its sexual themes.
Critics attacked him as a Jewish pornographer and the social disturbance became known as the “Reigen Scandal.”
The various titles of the play, the German Reigen and French La Ronde, relate to a round dance, like the one found in the children’s nursery rhyme “Ring Around the Rosie.” The imagery shows the transmission of sexual diseases particularly of syphilis.
The show goes on at 8 p.m. on April 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, and 17. The late show is at 10 p.m. on April 15 and the matinee is April 17 at 2 p.m.
As with all TTU Centerstage Events, Tech students get in free with ID. Otherwise, tickets cost $5 for non-Tech students, $8 for senior citizens and $10 for general admission.
Make sure you come out and see this play before it ends; it’s a thought-provoking piece that is sure to entertain everyone.
Due to sexual content and partial nudity, this play is recommended for mature audiences only.
For further information contact the Backdoor Playhouse box office at 372-6595 or go online to www.tntech.edu/bdph. The Backdoor Playhouse is located in the Jere Whitson building. The Tech Players is the University’s drama club and puts on at least one show per season.
