In 1695, William Congreve wrote a play about love for love’s sake. Now, the Emporia State Theatre Department will be transporting audiences to the world of Studio 54 to explore Congreve’s show through ‘70s disco.
“Luv 4 Luv” will be performed April 27-30 in the Karl C. Bruder Theatre in King Hall. The show follows Valentine as he juggles between debt and love while his seafarer brother, Ben, grapples between their father’s wishes and his own desires.
The show has over a dozen characters who are all “chasing each other around” in order to find pleasure and sleep with who they desire, according to Daniel Vazquez, assistant director, intimacy director for the show and senior theater major.
“Restoration (the theatrical period the show was written in) doesn’t explore love the way that we think about it at all,” said Dennis Turney Jr., director of the show and assistant theatre professor. “And so I think that’s what he’s saying in this play, love for love. It could be ‘Love for Love?’ Do these two people really love one another? And he flirts with that idea in the play.”
This disco script was adapted for ESU by Turney and Kevin Rabas, professor of English, modern languages and journalism. The show features disco lyrics “spoken as poetry” and a soundtrack featuring portions of about 20 songs, according to Turney.
“My first idea with songs was that I wanted to use them as a representation of character,” Turney said. “Not every character gets this, but a good number of them, when you first meet them, they come in and do a dance to a song that represents them.”
For example, Rachel Shaffer, junior theater major playing Ben in the show, said “In the Navy” by Village People plays for her character.
In addition to recognizable music, Turney said the script itself has “brilliant writing” while Shaffer described it as “witty.”
“I love it so much,” Shaffer said.
With a large cast, ‘70s disco and wit, “Luv 4 Luv” is like “one big party,” according to Lewis Trotter, sophomore theater major playing Valentine in the show.
“The environment that everyone in the cast creates is just unmatched,” Shaffer said. “Everyone is so focused, but also so willing to just try anything, they’re just so willing to just go and do crazy things, and it’s just a really, really positive environment that I can guarantee will be translated really well on stage.”
The environment of the show is due in part to Turney’s leadership. Trotter said that working with Turney is “awesome” and “a dream for sure.”
“There’s just like this tangible excitement that surrounds him with everything,” Shaffer said. “You can just feel it. Like last night, I was watching Lewis do a scene and I was looking at Dennis and he was sitting there, the biggest, cheesiest grin on his face and he was mouthing along with the words. Like, he just loves every ounce of it. It’s awesome. And it makes you – it’s impossible not to be just as excited as him. It’s infectious.”
“Luv 4 Luv” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. April 27-29 and 2 p.m. April 30. Tickets are available online through the department’s website or in-person before the show. ESU students get their tickets free.
