Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

West Valley College student Eddie Lee, front, joined by (from left) Jezebel Barraza, Joan Stevens and Jann Fratis rehearse a scene from 'The Drunken Sisters,' which illustrates gluttony--one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Seven Deadly Sins come alive on stage

One-act plays explore vices

By Shari Kaplan

Sloth, lust, pride, envy, avarice, wrath and gluttony. Ever since medieval times, the Seven Deadly Sins have been a list of negative traits for people to avoid. As the 20th century draws to a close, this sinful septet has taken new shape in the form of seven short plays--two left unfinished--by American playwright Thornton Wilder.

The collection of one-act plays--directed by West Valley instructors Bruce De Les Dernier, Brad Weisberg and Amy Yale--is being performed by West Valley College students March 27 through April 5 in the newly renovated Campus Music Studio, Room 12. Actors range in age from teenagers to senior citizens.

According to De Les Dernier, Wilder was commissioned to write the plays as a project for the Bleeker Street Theater in New York. He did not complete the plays illustrating wrath and envy by his 1975 death; it wasn't until recently that one F.J. O'Neil came along to research, edit and complete the plays. They now join their fellow sins in a complete collection.

"We're fairly certain that all seven have never been done together, as the original project had intended," De Les Dernier says.

"They're a study of human frailties, four characters at a time. Each play's relationship to the sin it talks about is really subtle. It allows for discussion afterward. That's what Thornton Wilder liked to do--make his audience think," De Les Dernier says. He also says that people who associate Wilder with the idealistic, clean-cut Our Town may be surprised and intrigued by these thought-provoking plays.

"I think people may be surprised to see the sins aren't depicted in the usual way," Weisberg adds. "The playwright has taken these sins and given us examples of how we may be committing them without even realizing it."

The evening opens with The Drunken Sisters, which deals with gluttony. It features the Three Fates--Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos--in a battle of wits with the sun god Apollo. Through Apollo's cunning and their own drunkenness, they lose a bet and are unable to claim the life of a king whose thread of life Atropos had planned to cut.

The final play is Cement Hands, which focuses on avarice. "It's the foibles and ramblings of the very, very rich," Weisberg says with a chuckle. The plot revolves around a greedy uncle who tries to break up his niece's marriage.

In between are plays whose subject matter includes a train wreck, hidden feelings in a convent, a tycoon who's ruined his life, mother-and-daughter con artists and a wealthy ex-madam who's somewhat disassociated herself from her past until she learns a former client is marrying her niece.

The West Valley College campus is located at 14000 Fruitvale Ave. Tickets are sold at the door and are $8 for adults, $6 for students and seniors. For showtimes or for more information, call 741-2058.

[ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ]