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Naperville college stages Stein's 'Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights'

Creative use of light and sound will shape North Central College's production of "Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights," Gertrude Stein's dramatic take on the legend of Faust.

Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 5 and 6, and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 7, in Madden Theatre at the Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville. Tickets are $10 for adults, and $8 for students and senior citizens. For tickets, call (630) 637-7469 or visit northcentralcollege.edu/showtix.

Unlike most versions of the legendary tale of Faust, in which the title character sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge, Stein's version has Faustus selling his soul to Mephisto for the ability to create electric light specifically. Stein starts the play in the terrifying, beautiful aftermath and regret of his choice.

Kelly Howe, North Central's assistant professor of theater and coordinator of gender and women's studies, directs "Doctor Faustus," which she says is considered by many people to be one of the masterworks of the 20th century.

"Stein resists any easy attempt to 'solve' the riddle of the play's meaning. She interrupts her own narratives and punctuates in purposely ambiguous ways," Howe said, adding that this ambiguity is the reason Howe chose to stage the play and explore its possibilities.

"Doing a play isn't always about presenting a fully finished understanding of something to an audience," she said. "It can also be about - and indeed I think it should be about - asking a difficult-to-answer question in a hopefully compelling way, in collaboration with an audience."

Focusing on texture rather than on story, Howe invited guest scenic and lighting designer Brandon Wardell of Chicago to create a visually stunning world using different kinds of light. She also collaborated with Jonathon Kirk, North Central College assistant professor of music, who composed the soundscape for the play, which Stein wrote as a libretto to an opera.

"Our approach for this project is more exploratory, using music in unconventional ways to both color Stein's text and create a completely different sense of mood and place," Kirk said.

"The music is entirely comprised of the actors' voices along with electronically processed samples of acoustic sounds, voices and instruments."

Howe added, "Stein's choice to have her Faustus create electric light explicitly makes the play about the exhilaration and disorientation of modernity. Written in 1938, the play has the sense of a mind reeling to make sense of so many technological and cultural changes. The text resonates today for that same reason, among many others."

For information on this or other upcoming shows, visit northcentralcollege.edu/showor call (630) 637-7469.

If you go

What: "Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights"

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 5 and 6; 2 p.m. Sunday, June 7

Where: Madden Theatre at the Fine Arts Center, 171 Chicago Ave., Naperville

Tickets: $10 adults, $8 students and seniors

Info: (630) 637-7469 or northcentralcollege.edu/showtix

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