On Thursday evening, Otterbein’s theater department is opening the show "Is He Dead?", a comedy by Mark Twain.
This show is about a struggling painter, Jean-François Millet, played by J.T. Wood. Millet can not sell any of his paintings and is in tremendous debt. In order to avoid debtors' prison, he decides to fake his death so that his paintings might be sold and he will be free to marry his love, Marie, played by Lauren DiMario. However, after faking his death and achieving his sought after fortune, he must figure out a way to resurrect himself so that he can be with Marie.
“The concept for 'Is He Dead?' is that there is this painter who is underappreciated. He’s a genius caught in the classic tale of the artist who is struggling despite their brilliance. He can’t even give his pictures away,” said Maggie Veach, a BA theater major and the assistant director for the show. “He has to fake his own death in order to get money for his paintings because the concept is, in the art world, if a painter is dead, then they’re worth more, which is a terrible truth.”
The cast and crew started rehearsals as soon as the new semester started in January. However, many of the cast members had to have much of their script memorized by the time the rehearsals started.
“It is a farce of epic proportions. All of it is about joy and laughter,” said Evan Moore-Coll, a junior acting major portraying the role of Dutchy. “But I think there’s something to be said about the show saying that no matter what you must do, love is worth fighting for.”
The show will be opening this Thursday, Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in Cowan Hall. There are performances on Feb. 19 and 20 at 8 p.m. and a matinee performance on Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. The show also runs Feb. 25 through 27 at 8 p.m.
