Oleanna, a play about real problems.

A couple weeks ago I went to a play with my mom at Triad Stage in downtown Greensboro. The play was about a student and a professor at a University. The student accused her professor of sexually assaulting her and therefore he was not able to receive his tenure. This caused great problems for his family because he was at the time trying to purchase a house. Throughout the play I noticed so many examples of power and dominance.

I wasn't sure what to expect before going to the play. I had no idea what it was really about but I was going to spend time with my mom (she invited me to come when my dad could not). There were actually only two people in the play and this turned me off at first. As I mentioned, there were many, many examples of power and dominance. The professor of course showed his power over the students' grades and her understanding of the material in class. He told her that if she were to continue to come to his office he would guarantee her an A in the course. There is a fine line between being nice and starting to be too nice. The professor never really touched the girl until the end of the play but the way that he spoke to her you could see her uncomfortability. The student by the end of the play was using her power of words to dominate the professor. She filed a court case against him saying that he had been sexually and mentally abusing her, which left the professor confused because he felt he did nothing.

I was a little confused about the entire outcome of the play. It ended with the professor literally beating up the student for accusing him of something he did not do and ruining his family. I am not sure who was "right" in the story. Both characters contributed to the dominance of their actions to control each other in many ways. The professor controlled the student's grade, the student controlled the professor's job and both characters took advantage of each other. Things like this happen all the time on college campuses. In a way our professors have a sense of power over us as students maybe because they have obtained a higher level of education, or because they control our grade or maybe even because we feel they have power just because of the way they teach their classes. I was intrigued by this play and I felt that I would write about it so maybe someone else could look at the story line. It apparently on it's opening night on Broadway created quite the uproar in the lobby after the show. We were told that a fight broke out because of the story. Interesting. . .

http://www.oleannaonbroadway.com/