FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2004
CONTACT: Roland Ruiz, St. Philip's College Dirctor of Community and Public Relations
210.531.4851
ST. PHILIP'S COLLEGE THEATRE INSTRUCTOR HAS PLAY PUBLISHED
St. Philip's College theatre instructor and playwright Charles R. Jeffries will have his translation and adaptation of Carlo Goldoni's Mistress of The Inn published this September in Baker's Plays of Boston, Mass. Jeffries' play interpretation is his sixth to be catalogued by Baker's Plays, which serves as a publisher and repository of full-length plays, one-act plays, theatre texts and musicals for use by theatre groups and production companies through out the United States and England.
According to Jeffries, Mistress of the Inn is a classical Italian farce from the 1700s. "This was one of the earliest 'female liberation' plays and
caused quite a stir in the world of theatre in its day," he said.
Jeffries, a retired school teacher, has been on faculty at St. Philip's College for seven years and serves as the college's drama coordinator, overseeing student and community theatrical productions. He is a member of the Theatre Education Association's Hall of Fame, a past recipient of that organization's Founder's Award, and founder of the Texas Theatre Consultants, assisting teachers and students across the country with curriculum, production and performance.
The plot of Jeffries' most recent play adaptation centers around characters Conte and Marchese, two clumsy noblemen who attempt to win the heart of a charming inn keeper Mirandolina, a pretty and spirited woman with whom everyone falls in love. The two are joined by another resident at the inn, the Cavalier de Rippafratta, a sworn woman-hater and grump. Mirandolina's intelligence and sensitivity are offended by the attitudes and remarks of the Cavalier, and taking revenge, she causes him to fall in love with her. Her success creates all kinds of jealousies among the other guests at the inn. Matters are complicated by the arrival of two actresses, Ortensia and DeJanara, who pretend to be well-born ladies. As the situation becomes increasingly complicated and difficult because of the extreme emotions of the Cavalier, Mirandolina reveals her game. She states that she is not at all in love with the Cavalier; her game was only to punish his arrogance and ill manners, and she declares that she will instead -- faithful to her fathers dying wish -- marry the loyal Fabrizio, the waiter of the Inn.
St. Philip's College, one of the Alamo Community Colleges serving the greater Bexar County region, is a comprehensive community college designated as both an Historically Black College and an Hispanic Serving Institution. St. Philip's College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.