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Sir John Falstaff is perhaps the most famous and funniest character in Shakespeare’s writings, and his whims have lent themselves to several theatrical adaptations revolving around his comic person. In line with the aims of the Civilization Sequence Program to promote culture, the opera Falstaff originally filmed live at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, was screened in the Bathish Auditorium in West Hall on March 8 with English subtitles. Falstaff, first performed in February 1893, the year its composer Giuseppe Verdi turned 80, was a popular and critical success. Rooted in the commedia dell’arte and based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, Verdi’s adaptation of the Falstaff character portrays the latter as a boastful self-indulgent libertine, a con man, a manipulative liar, and a compulsive eater. Falstaff sends identical love letters to two different women, Alice Ford and Meg Page, both married to wealthy men, with the primary intention of blackmailing them for money as well as sharing their beds. He sings a long, ironic monologue on the subject of honor and cynically inquires if “honor can fill your belly.” Falstaff’s ruse is quickly discovered by his victims and a plot for revenge is hatched, seeking retribution by capitalizing on Falstaff’s overweening vanity. Summoned by Alice to a secret tryst, Falstaff cleans and preens his corpulent figure to enjoy a supposed sizzling session of sex. Gently teased and rebuffed at first by Alice, Falstaff hides behind a screen when her husband, who suspects mischief, appears on stage. Papers are thrown in the air, there is a pillow fight on the balcony, feathers fly, and dirty laundry is thrown around, while the husband and his friends look for Falstaff. The laundry basket then serves as a hiding place for the rogue, and he covers himself with dirty clothes. The servants eventually dump the dirty linen, Falstaff included, into the river. However, his good humor prevails, and everyone finally joins in a chorus to sing, “Everything in the world is a jest,” concluding with “He laughs best who has the final laugh.” The approximately three-hour screened performance of Falstaff, usually described as “one of the more accessible operas,” was attended by Dean of Arts and Sciences Khalil Bitar, the acting chair of the new Department of Fine Arts and Art History, David Kurani, and a crowd of interested students.
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