Knox College Theatre presents "Round Dance," by Arthur Schnitzler, directed by Neil Blackadder, at 7:30 p.m. nightly, Wednesday, February 16 through Saturday, February 19, in Harbach Theatre, Ford Center for the Fine Arts, on the Knox campus in Galesburg, Illinois. The play is intended for mature audiences. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for students and senior citizens. Tickets are available at the door.

The play features ten scenes with ten characters who interact in a series of overlapping love stories.

"I became interested in the play because of its depiction of close, detailed interactions among different characters," said Blackadder, associate professor of theatre. "It can be cynical, but it's also very humane."

Schnitzler's work has been both influential and controversial. Considered obscene when it was written in 1897, "Round Dance" was not performed until the 1920s, sparking public disturbances in both Berlin and Vienna. After the controversies in Europe, Schnitzler refused to allow the play to be performed until 50 years after his death in 1932.

Because the play could not be performed before 1982, most people became familiar with it through a 1950 French film version, "La Ronde" with Simone Signoret, which itself was also banned for a time in the United States. The play formed the basis for David Hare's 1998 Broadway play "The Blue Room," which starred Nicole Kidman. The film "Eyes Wide Shut," which also featured Kidman, is based on Schnitzler's novella "Dream Story."

Some scholars view Schnitzler as a early feminist, Blackadder says. "That's not just because the women generally come off better than the men," he says. "It's more that Schnitzler was not reflective of the attitudes of his time, the 1890's -- that he was able to see past the double standard that imposed harsher rules on the sexual conduct of women."

Round Dance, by Arthur Schnitzler
Feb. 16-19, 2005
Harbach Theatre
Knox College
Neil Blackadder - Director

Cast
Brianne Benson - The Prostitute
Michael Caplan - The Soldier
Ann Hernandez -The Parlor Maid
Alex Enyart - The Young Gentleman
Meghan Reardon - The Young Wife
Brian Conley -The Husband
Jo Blume - Sweet Young Thing
Evan Sawdey - The Poet
Morgan Cohen-Ross - The Actress
Devin Hogan - The Count

Production Crew
Heather Courtney - Stage Manager
Ariel Lauryn - Assistant Stage Manager
Craig Choma - Scenic & Lighting Designer
Chelsea Lynn - Co-Lighting Designer
Margo Shively - Costumer
Conni Edwards - Costume Designer
Meredith Shuppy, Rebecca Meyerson - Sound Designers
Jake Hebert, Anne Wilder - Props Masters

Costume Crew: Heidi Becker, Eleanor Belt, Jess Drew, Conni Edwards, Megan Gamble, Sarah Lammie, Krista Reeves, Amanda Smith, Lindsay Turnbull

Set Crew: Adrian Andersen, Heather Courtney, Jake Hebert, Chelsea Lynn, Rebecca Meyerson, Doug Porter, Sarah Stewart, Nathan Thompson, Bethany Woodard

String Orchestra
Kira Horel
Emmie Barford
Jennifer Wolf
Melissa Morrow

Scenes from Round Dance

The play opens, and closes, with a pragmatic Prostitute, played by Brianne Benson, above.

The double standard: The Husband Brian Conley (above) declines to tell his worried Young Wife Meghan Reardon (below) about his extramarital affairs. But he's clear on how shameful it is for a wife to be unfaithful.

Turns out that the Young Wife has her own lover, The Young Gentleman, played by Alex Enyart, below.