Here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson.
The famed character of the film and novel, The Graduate, is coming to Athens on Monday as L.A. Theatre Works, a non-profit media arts organization, brings its production to Ohio University.
The Graduate follows Benjamin Braddock, a college graduate who is more than disgruntled with his life outside of school. Meanwhile, his parents’ friend, Mrs. Robinson, seduces him while he falls in love with her daughter Elaine.
The play is part of the Performing Arts Series, fulfilling the non-musical theater performance Andrew Holzaepfel, associate director of the Campus Involvement Center, said he tries to do every other season. Because there are only six to seven productions each year, Holzaepfel said the center switches between non-musical theater and dance each season.
L.A. Theatre Works performs plays in the style of radio theater, in which the actors perform in front of standing microphones and troupe members perform the sound effects behind the main cast as they mime the action.
“It allows the audience to create their own picture,” said Brian Tichnell, who plays Benjamin Braddock. “It keeps the focus on the story rather than whether the play looked believable or not. It keeps the text moving forward.”
Mrs. Robinson might be known as the ultimate cougar, but Heidi Dippold said the play explores much more of the character and the story as a whole than the 1967 film version with Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft.
“I think today’s audience, when they watch the film, miss a lot of the humanity and humor because it’s pretty specific to the period,” said Dippold, who plays Mrs. Robinson. “What you get in the play version is a full-fledged story that goes deeper and wider.”
Tichnell said the play allows the famed seductress to be more than just an icon; she is an actual character with her own motivations.
It is Benjamin’s motivations and conflicts that Dippold said college students will identify with when they see the play.
“College students may not realize it, but there really is so much in it for them,” she said. “The character of Benjamin is timeless. When you graduate, you ask, ‘What is my life outside of this cocoon setting? What will my impact be?’ You leave this idealistic setting and face the realities of society.”
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If You Go:
What: L.A. Theatre Works presents The Graduate
When: 7:30 p.m., Monday
Where: Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium
Admission: $12 student, $18 senior, $20 general
This article appeared in print under the headline "The Graduate: Mrs. Robinson is going to seduce Athens as L.A. Theatre Works brings the iconic characters to life in MemAud"
