Many people may have been required to read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” in high school, but a new stage version brings a feminist perspective to the 1850 novel.
Governors State University’s Theatre and Performance Studies presents “The Scarlet Letter” Nov. 4-5 at Center for Performing Arts in University Park.
“In the original Nathaniel Hawthorne story, it feels like a lot of these reflections of Hester Prynne are coming from male perspectives and other people trying to define this woman that they don’t understand,” said Jess Hutchinson, director of “The Scarlet Letter.”
“What they absolutely end up doing is defining themselves. The adaptation puts Hester and her story, her point of view and her relationship with her daughter Pearl into the driver’s seat so that we’re encountering this experience of being ostracized and shamed.”
Set in the historical time period from Hawthorne’s book, the stage adaptation features reimagined characters and story lines that take the scarlet A from being a symbol of shame to a reclaimed symbol of identity.
“It’s a new adaptation that a friend of mine named Sarah Saltwick’s been working on for several years. I saw an early workshop while we were in graduate school together at the University of Texas and fell in love with it,” said Hutchinson, of Chicago’s Logan Square community.
She added that discussions with Patrick Santoro, program coordinator of Theatre and Performance Studies, about the diversity of GSU’s student population led her to believe that staging “The Scarlet Letter” offered an opportunity to bring the reimagining of the classic story to another level.
“I was really excited about the idea of taking something that we think of — ‘The Scarlet Letter’ as white early America — and reframing this as a story that is for everyone regardless of your race or ethnicity or country of origin. It’s just an American story,” Hutchinson said.
“This story is shockingly relevant and seems to be getting more and more relevant every day with the treatment of women, especially with sexual harassment and abuse and assault tossed in the news recently. It seems like not a lot has changed in terms of the way that we shame women.”
Maya Shelton, a senior in the Theatre and Performance Studies program, leads the cast of primarily GSU students.
“They are incredible. They have really brought something to the contemporary resonance and challenge of taking something that can feel like a distant, old, dusty thing from high school literature classes and finding the places where it’s personal and connects to them emotionally,” Hutchinson said.
“It takes a lot of courage especially for some of these actors who are younger or newer. It’s really a challenging show. There’s a lot of feelings in this play because we’re dealing with really challenging subject matter. I’m just really proud.”
The crew includes assistant director and GSU student Therese Caldwell plus an all-women design team.
“Theater is the best way I know to create empathy. With the way the world is going right now with all the divisiveness and ugliness that seems to be building up from every corner, one of the solutions is empathy and compassion,” Hutchinson said.
“Also, there is nothing else I love as much as being in a room with collaborators and figuring how to take the story and get it ready to share it with an audience who hopefully will find it interesting, thought-provoking and joyful.”
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
‘The Scarlet Letter’
When: 8 p.m. Nov. 4; 2 p.m. Nov. 5
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Where: Governors State University’s Center for Performing Arts, 1 University Parkway, University Park
Tickets: $15 general public; $10 students
Information: 708-235-2222; centertickets.net