French play's author will illuminate comic word play in person

The French play “A quoi ca rime?” (“No reason, no rhyme?”) will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 7, in the CAC Theater. Tickets are $5 in advance, $7 at the door.

The play, sponsored by the French section of Modern and Classical Languages, will be performed entirely in French. Contact Brigitte Roussel, professor of French, at (316) 978-6329 for reservations, or reserve by e-mail at brigitte.roussel@wichita.edu.

The play, by Bernard Eyraud, is a comedy about a family headed by two sisters who raised the child of one of them, and whose members thrive on projects and dreams. They each seem to have a newly discovered passion, but will these hopes reveal real talents?

Many funny situations, mostly language play on words, arise when they each try to explain what their dream is about to the others, and the others misunderstand. Lucie, mother of Charlotte, consults her doctor almost every day because she tends to be bulimic, and she doubts that her sister and daughter have real talents.

Aunt Janine thinks she can become a great artist and paint a masterpiece; her niece Charlotte, 25, has fallen in love with a young poet and wants a piano so she can put her sweetheart’s poems to music. The poet, a blue-eyed blond troubadour and remote descendant of Vikings, loves Charlotte and hopes to obtain her mother’s permission to date her. The “president” is a friend and confidante of the family, a very busy man who travels a lot, but to secret destinations. Finally the doctor ends up checking each person to assess whether they suffer from delusions or have real talents to pursue.

The author, Bernard Eyraud of Paris, will be in Wichita for the final week of rehearsals and for the performance. The play this year will be performed by the advanced French students enrolled in Roussel’s seminar on contemporary theater. Local high school teachers and their French students will have an opportunity to meet Eyraud ahead of time, as he will tour high school French classes on Thursday, Dec. 2, and Friday, Dec. 3.