Il Teatro Comico

Holden Chapel will become an Italian-language theater on Thursday as the students of Italian 40: “Advanced Oral Expression. Ciak... si parla!” present their annual staged performance of Italian literature. This year, the production incorporates texts like Luigi Lupi’s play “Le metamorfosi di Arlecchino” and Carlo Goldoni’s monologue “Il teatro comico” in a meta-theatrical performance.

The class hopes to inspire lower-level students of Italian to continue studying the language, performers said. With this aim, the storyline of their production is especially fitting. “[The play is] about the transition, or metamorphosis, from being struggling actors to becoming blossoming, well-trained Italian performers,” Christian E. Garcia ’13 said.

The performers said they hope to entertain their fellow students in addition to inspiring them to new heights in their studies. “This is a way to get them to recognize that they can understand more than they probably think they can,” Victoriya Levina ’14 said.

Theater and Prejudice

Although we might think that we live in a world free of persecution, the fact is that we never know when prejudice will rear its ugly head again. This idea is, in part, the message of Jean-Claude Grumberg’s play “Dreyfus,” which will be staged at the OBERON on Sunday under the direction of Guila C. Kessous. The play is centered on the notorious Dreyfus Affair that rocked France in the 1890s, a scandal in which a Jewish officer was wrongly accused of treason.

For Kessous—a UNESCO Artist for Peace and a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School—this production is not just relevant for Jews. “It is not only about anti-Semites, and it is not only about anti-Semitism,” she said. For her, it is ultimately a play about people taking action after their false sense of security is broken. The show is set in Poland in 1931, where several Jews are putting on a play about the Dreyfus Affair. “The characters are putting on a play that they feel very far from, but actually they are right before World War II,” she says.

The play will be followed by a talk by His Excellency François Zimeray, the French Ambassador for Human Rights.

VES Film Screenings

The Visual and Environmental Studies department will hold its own miniature film festival in the Carpenter Center from Thursday through Saturday. The films, both live action and animation, are the culmination of VES students’ work this year. In addition to screening pieces created by underclassmen, the department will be holding its annual screening of senior thesis films.

Brian A. Paison ’12, whose thesis film “Good Cop, Bad Cop” will be screened, said he appreciates how the festival includes work from across the VES department. He remembers fondly the screenings of his sophomore and junior year pieces at previous years’ festivals. “It brings everyone together. Not only do you have the film screenings through all the VES classes, but you have photography right next door,” he said, referring to the Carpenter Center’s neighboring exhibition of VES visual art theses.

According to participating filmmaker Sheema Golbaba ’14, the screenings offer attendees a look into the department. “It’s always nice to know what a department like VES is up to—what kind of curriculum is being instated and what kind of students and work are being developed,” she said.

Shakespeare Scavenger Hunt

Truly unique interpretations of Shakespeare are few and far between. Yet the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club’s upcoming production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on Saturday is framed as an interactive scavenger hunt, which begins at the West Patio of the Loeb Drama Center. The play is performed in multiple locations of the yard, which participants will have to discover by using clues.