Arts & Culture
Demanding drama, The Little Foxes debuts in Stevens Point
The Pointer
ataub878@uwsp.edu
Sibling rivalry, greed and deception seized the stage of the Jenkins Theatre last Friday as the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s department of theatre and dance debuted their fifth show this year, The Little Foxes, in the Noel Fine Arts Center.
Described by the director Jeffery Stephens as a “modern version of Desperate Housewives, Dallas, Dynasty and All My Children rolled into one,” Stephens admits “It is a very demanding drama.” The play was chosen by the faculty because of its challenging call for actors and designers and the ability to recreate the historical setting in which it takes place.
Taking place in 1900 in a small town of the Deep South, the living room of the Gidden family serves as the space of deceit.
Big curls, fancy dresses and feathered fans, as well as dress suits, shined shoes and slick hair, characterize the ten-person cast in the story of struggle among siblings to obtain millions in the cotton mills.
Opening on Broadway over seventy years ago, The Little Foxes became a huge success and writer Lillian Hellman’s most popular piece of drama. As one of the most frequently revived American plays of its time, the story of the greed-driven Hubbard family succeeds as a melodrama themed with morality and satire.
The theme of greed within the play also has a unique relevance to the current economic climate.
“When translated on a larger scale, it speaks to the idea of large corporations in past and present society destroying everyone and everything in their way to make that extra dollar,” said cast member Amie Root, who plays Birdie.
Stephens also said the show has a lot of educational value, as it is a major American play by an important American playwright.
The setting and costumes are described by Stephens as “sensational,” and a result of the extensive research of the political, social and economic realities of the era, particularly in the Deep South. The designers spent many hours searching for the appropriate fabrics, music and furniture to recreate the proper mood.
The Little Foxes will be performed again March 5-6 at 7:30 p.m. and March 7 at 2 p.m. in the Jenkins Theater. Tickets are $17 for adults, $16 for senior citizens and $12 for youth. UW-SP students may buy tickets in advance for $4.50 with their student ID or be admitted free the day of, if seats remain. Tickets can be purchased at the University Information and Tickets Center in the Dreyfus University Center by calling 715-346-4100 or 800-838-3378. Tickets can also be ordered online at www.uwsp.edu/centers/uit/ordering.asp.
