FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, February 28, 2008
“TEARS OF THE INDIANS” WILL PREMIERE DURING BETHANY MESSIAH FESTIVAL
LINDSBORG, Kan.—Using the work of Bartolomé de Las Casas as the basis for a new play, three Bethany College students and their instructor will premiere a piece for the stage, “Tears of the Indians,” during the Bethany College Messiah Festival of Music and Art.
Natalie Peña, Delicia Mandrey and Nicholas Duman are students in a narrative theatre class, taught by Carl Isaacson, in which students learn to how to move literature from the page to the stage. They have helped craft the production, and will star in it.
The class will present a workshop on narrative theatre and the creation of historical characters on March 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Burnett Center. “Tears of the Indians” will be performed March 22 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Both the workshop and performances are free and open to the public.
The work is constructed from the writings of Las Casas, notably his works “A Brief History of the Destruction of the Indies,” or “Tears of the Indians.” Las Casas came to the New World as a Spanish conquistador in 1502. In 1511, after hearing preaching against the Spanish treatment of native peoples, Las Casas was moved to end his involvement in the system of slavery that dominated the Spanish colonies. In 1512 he became the first Dominican priest ordained in the New World, and spent his ministry working for the freedom of the native peoples.
The theme of Las Casas’ work is not simply the cruelty of a few Spaniards, but the systematic ways in which human beings dehumanize others – unfortunately, a consistent theme in human history. As Las Casas wrote in the preamble to his will, “I have no other interests but this: to liberate . . . from the violent deaths which they have suffered and suffer . . .”
Cast members are Nicholas Duman, a junior theatre arts major from Hayden, Idaho in the role of Las Casas; Natalie Peña, a sophomore communication arts major from Irving, Texas as one narrator; and Delicia Mandrey, a sophomore communication arts major from Denver, Colorado as the second narrator. Audiences will remember Duman from his portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge in Bethany theatre’s staging of “A Christmas Carol.” This show is the Bethany stage debut for both Peña and Mandrey.
Isaacson has directed or managed the past three Messiah festival shows. In 2006 he translated, adapted and directed the novel “Barabbas,” by Swedish novelist Pär Lagerkvist. In 2007, he managed Chicago artist Lisa Wagner’s presentation of her one woman show, “Haunted by God, the Dorothy Day Story.” Next year he will translate and direct August Strindberg’s haunting 1906 drama, “Easter.”
Theatre performance is one of three components of the Bethany College Messiah Festival of Music and Art. Other components – a juried student art exhibition and the “Messiah” performances themselves – date back to the founding of the college. For a full schedule of this year’s events, visit www.bethanylb.edu/messiah.
Bethany College, established by Swedish Lutheran immigrants in 1881, is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The mission of Bethany College is to nurture and challenge individuals in their search for truth and meaning as they lead lives of faith, learning and service. Bethany College is on the Web at www.bethanylb.edu.
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