Westmont Play Breaks Out of 'The Clouds'

Westmont is putting a new spin on a classic Greek comedy in hopes of staging an entertaining play with a moral edge. John Blondell, Westmont professor of theatre arts, directs the 14-student cast performing “The Clouds,” by Aristophanes, Feb. 23-24 and March 1-3, all at 8 p.m. in Westmont's Porter Theater. There will also be a performance at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 3. Admission is $15; $7 for students.

The play focuses on an old man whose son’s horse-racing addiction puts him into debt. The father decides to go to Socrates’ Thinkery to learn rhetoric and talk his way out of his debts, but his life spins out of control when he relinquishes his beliefs and traditional values. The name of the play, “The Clouds,” refers to a chorus of women who drive the plot.

“I like to use these old texts and then find the ways they can be exciting and relevant for today,” says Blondell, founder and director of the Lit Moon Theatre Company. “Rather than thinking of them as classical, I want to think about them as something modern, up-to-date and fresh.”

Blondell says he is bringing in many contemporary elements and references to a play written to lampoon the intellectual trends of fifth century B.C.

“The playwright makes everybody look ridiculous and laughs at the institutions we create and the people we are,” says Blondell. “The play brings into question modern life and whether modern life and all modern ideas are necessarily the best ideas.”

Even though the play is a comedy, Blondell says the final scene is a little unsettling.

“It’ll be a happy diversion with some deeper things to think about,” he says.

To purchase tickets or for more information, please call Erin Brehm in the theater arts department at (805) 565-6040.