"The Stranger" Exhibits Extraordinary Talent

Author: Suzanne Mozes

Senior Alex Poe's adaptation of "The Stranger" by Albert Camus premiered this past weekend in the Hepburn Zoo, stinging audiences with directorial and authorial innovation on the Algerian Nobel Prize-winning book.
Poe, in his last year as a double major in theater and literary studies with a minor in French, chose to adapt this novel not only because the book holds much meaning for him but also because he wants to share the novel with an audience.
Poe's adaptation drew the audience into the plain life of protagonist Meursault. In his apartment building Salamano, an elderly man, walks his dog everyday and Raymond, an unrefined pimp, uses and abuses women. We learn that Meursault has placed his mother in a retirement facility, creating a fuss in his neighborhood. When she dies at the beginning of the play, Meursault shows no emotion at her funeral. He meets Marie at the beach the next day, sparking a romance that will extend to the end of the play.
However, when Meurault becomes involved in Raymond's rivalries, he shoots a man to death, goes to trial and is sentenced for execution.
Themes of death and emotion flow freely throughout "The Stranger." When Meursault loses his mother, Salamano loses his dog after losing his wife. Next, Meursault loses his life.
This concept of losing lives "will always be relevant because it's about finding meaning in the face of death, and that's an issue that will never go away," according to Poe.
The peculiar, fantastical set foreshadowed the same peculiar, fantastical story. White canvas stretched across a skyline of angular, unhinged houses with obtuse cutouts for windows.
This backdrop, a German expressionist set particularly influenced by "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari", established a world unto itself that deprived the audience of comfort while imparting a new realism.
Poe intermittently projected words onto the white canvas to provide a silent narration for the audience. The director utilized the back-shadowing of characters behind the canvases as a tool to provide a generous flexibility in creating the particular tone of the moment, whether it be mournful or seductive.
Senior Ben Correale as Meursault, a truly emotionless character, deserved the lead of this production. His strong presence on stage permitted the silences of his character, which spoke more for his character than the outbursts at the end of the production.
Eliza Hulme '05 sunk into the role of Marie with a theatrical womanliness the part may not have required, but with a balance between such femininity and aggression towards Meursault that the part demanded. Discovering the delicate intricacies of gruffness and sensitivity of Salamano, Alex Horn '05 clearly enjoyed performing his role. Matt Daylor '06 approached his role with a coarseness that conveyed more of a sense of a construction worker than that of a pimp, but became more comfortable with his character as the play progressed.
Sophomores Andrew Zox and Seda Savas both faced the daunting task of acting several roles, and both gave stellar performances as the prosecutor and defender, respectively, in the tense courtroom scenes.
This cohesive, original production proved Poe's overwhelming talent as both a playwright and a director. The Hepburn Zoo has never seen a spectacle quite like this.