The Student and Colonel’s Daughter are locked in a vice-grip, their hands glued to each other’s heads, rotating around, dipping and swirling, as it appears some great force has overtaken both. How can something be violent and tender? The Daughter is fighting something within that is about to burst out, and the Student is helping her keep it at bay. Eventually, the unknown force wins.
“The Ghost Sonata,” written by August Strindberg in 1907, is a surreal play that experiments with the human psyche-unraveling the dark secrets of a seemingly perfect and opulent house. The protagonist, a Young Student, has yearned to be a part of the upper class, but upon arriving at the higher echelon of society, finds it riddled with secrets and ghosts, both literal and metaphorical, and a beautiful woman who is doomed to illness.
Director Alejandro Tomás-Rodriguez, a member of the Theatre Faculty at The University of New Mexico, is taking an experimental approach to the work. He embraces movement as a storytelling device and is often seen out of his chair more than in it, crouching, crawling, and throwing himself around the rehearsal space as he encourages each actor to dive into their own embodied expression of the text.
The play explores some dark themes but does not succumb to what could be depressive tones. Instead, there are moments of snark, snideness, even humor as the Young Student uncovers the horrors of the house. There is even time for a chaotic and entrancing choreographed dance-fight
“The Ghost Sonata” is presented by The University of New Mexico Department of Theatre and Dance as part of their current production season. Playing at Rodey Theatre in The UNM Center for the Arts on April 25, 26, and May 1, 2, and 3 at 7:30pm, and April 27 at 2:00pm.
Tickets are available at unmtickets.com or the UNM Bookstore.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
1. PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS TODAY for “The Ghost Sonata,” by visiting https://www.unmtickets.com/events/detail/ghost-sonata-son1
Southwest Contemporary Vol. 12: Obsession features some incredible work from several of the amazing people who comprise the Art Department. Current second-year MFA students Luka Berkley and Justine Kablack, recent MFA graduate Taylor Engel, and instructor Jessamyn Lovell all have work featured in this most recent issue of Southwest Contemporary.
Art History Professor Ray Hernández-Durán was recently featured in two articles and interviewed by the Latin American and Iberian Institute. UNM News published “UNM Professors Create Exhibition, First-Ever Scholarship of Local Chicano Artists’ Work” by Anna Padilla, highlighting an exhibition curated by Hernández-Durán and Dr. Irene Vásquez. The show, now on view at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, features six talented New Mexican Chicano artists whose work has been historically underrepresented in academic scholarship.
Distinguished Professor Jim Stone is an exhibiting artist who uses photography. His photographs have been published in three monographs and exhibited internationally; they are represented in the permanent collections of over 30 major museums and public archives.
