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Don Juan in Chicago by U of C Faculty of Dance
University Theatre
Tuesday, October 21 - Saturday, November 1

More in: Dance

The University of Calgary department of drama’s season opener, Don Juan in Chicago, offers an unexpected and comic take on the infamous lothario. The play tells the story of a scholarly Don Juan who, in 17th-century Spain, makes a deal with the devil to live forever. He’s seeking more time to pursue his quest for the meaning of life through learning, but there’s a catch: he must sleep with a different woman every night, no repeats.

“He’s a Don Juan against his will,” explains David Owen, who will direct the David Ives script as part of his master of fine arts thesis. “He’s forced into service, so to speak. He ends up having no time for noble pursuits.”

The first woman he seduces is his true love, Dona Elvira, who is not happy with Don Juan’s, um, rapid virgin finish. As a result, she makes her own deal with the devil that allows her to pursue Don Juan throughout history, seeking the opportunity to sleep with him a second time. “She’s the opposite from the Dona Elvira who’s usually portrayed as a victim. She’s quite assertive about what she wants,” says Owen.

Fast forward 400 years to modern-day Chicago where Don Juan is still fulfilling his deal, sleeping around, and Dona Elvira is still in hot pursuit. At this point, the audience is introduced to two modern-day characters: Sandy, a woman with her own colourful past, and Don Juan’s young daughter, previously unknown to him.

Owen says Don Juan experiences a revelation involving such homilies as “love conquers all” and “love is the greatest thing in life.” Without giving too much away, let’s just say audiences will get a happy ending and, according to Owen, plenty of laughs. “We’re having so much fun. This could be the funniest play in Calgary this year the way the production is turning out. The joke around the cast is that you’ll laugh so hard your eyes will bleed,” Owen says excitedly.

Owen has an affinity for comedy, as he puts it. Besides being a director and actor, he’s also a playwright whose most successful plays have been comedies. “One reason I’m attracted to David Ives is because he works with structure as well as content. How he tells the story is just as funny as what he writes,” says Owen. Even the timing of intermission in the hour-and-a-half show is, in itself, a joke.

Though popular in Eastern Canada where his work is produced frequently, Ives isn’t familiar to many people in Western Canada. “I haven’t heard of anyone doing any Ives in Calgary before,” says Owen of the New York writer.

In January, Owen’s new theatre company, Serious Theatre, will put on another Ives production, All in the Timing. “Calgary doesn’t have a company whose mandate is to do full-length comedy,” explains Owen, who has decided to fill the void.

In the meantime, however, Owen is simply hoping to “fill the audience with little devils,” for the Halloween show of Don Juan in Chicago. Anyone who comes dressed as mephistopheles will get in free.