CORVALLIS - A group of Russian-speaking students from Oregon State University will perform the comedy, "Marriage," by Nikolai Gogol in a special performance May 8 on the OSU campus.

The play, which will be performed entirely in Russian, will begin at 3 p.m. in the OSU Lab Theater on the east side of Withycombe Hall, 30th Street and Campus Way in Corvallis. Tickets, priced at $2, will be available at the door.

A lengthy synopsis of the play, written in English, will be available.

This is the fourth year that director Vreneli Farber has assembled a cast of native speakers of Russian to perform a Russian play. Several of the students have been involved in multiple productions.

"Besides the students' enthusiasm for theater, a number of them participate because of their desire to keep their native language active," said Farber, who is an associate professor of Russian at OSU. "They come from many different parts of the former Soviet Union, but share a knowledge of the Russian language."

Farber said the audience for these Russian-language plays has included Russian-speaking people from the community, as well as from Eugene, Salem, Woodburn and Silverton. The performance is scheduled at 3 p.m. to accommodate their travel, she said.

Gogol's "Marriage," which is subtitled "A Quite Incredible Incident in Two Acts," is a farce about a bachelor's decision to get married. His friend sweeps aside the matchmaker and decides to take on the task of arranging the marriage. They find, however, that there are four other suitors interested in the same prospective bride.

"Marriage" was published in 1842. Gogol is also known for writing "Inspector General."

Previous plays performed by the OSU "Russian Troupe" have included Fonvizin's "The Minor," Erdman's "The Credentials" and a one-act play by satirists Ilf and Petrov.

Source: 

Vreneli Farber, 541-737-3957

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