UVA DRAMA CONTINUES 2023-2024 SEASON WITH RAPHAEL’S ISLANDS
Directed by the playwright, UVA Alumna and Guest Artist Alexandra Déglise, this staged reading features a new translation of Déglise’s original, French work.
March 15 at 7 p.m in the Ruth Caplin Theatre
The UVA Department of Drama continues its 2023-2024 season with a staged reading of a new play by UVA Alum and Drama Department Guest Artist Alexandra Déglise, Raphael’s Islands. Directed by the playwright, this staged reading features a new English translation of Déglise’s original, French script.
Raphael’s Islands showcases the generational impacts of colonialism and how this connects to the experience of matrifocal family dynamics. The play depicts these family relationships through the altercations that occur following the death of a mother, whose three daughters reunite on the night of the wake after being estranged for years. The reconnection invites these alienated daughters to find compassion for each other despite their outlook on their lineage.
Déglise states, “even though those in the U.S maybe have not gone through the same thing, they still can find how the story connects with their lyannaj (lineage).”
Since completing her MFA in Acting at UVA in 2016, Déglise's mission is to employ her training and talent to help others by connecting passion, power, and essence to promote healing through performing arts. “Everything I do in theatre is for the purpose of healing something, not one specific type of healing but having others leave the theatre with any kind of wound healed.” Déglise’s first graduate degree was in journalism from the Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3. In her second year of the program, the City University of New York invited her as an exchange student. The experience led to Alexandra’s first acting class, from which her passion and love for acting was born. Her time in New York included working with a variety of coaches such as Sarah Grace Wilson from the Juilliard School, and she was inspired to go back to graduate school for acting, which brought her to UVA Drama’s MFA Program.
Outside of just having an audience at the reading to receive the organic feedback a live performance sparks, Déglise says, “My purpose is to know that I am going to meet so many people from different studies and backgrounds with different interests. I have a great opportunity to start a dialogue and let them know what we are going through on our tiny island of Martinique and what we are still struggling with.”
Raphael’s Islands is made possible by collaborative support of the Department of Drama, Department of French, and the Greater Caribbean Studies Network at UVA. Producer Caitlin McLeod’s Producing Theater class (DRAM 3652) gives undergraduate students the opportunity to delve a bit deeper as they support the marketing, publicity, and production of this staged reading.
Tickets for Raphael’s Islands are free and can be reserved through the UVA Arts Box Office online at www.artsboxoffice.virginia.edu, by phone at 434-924-3376, or in person at the UVA Arts Box office located in the lobby of the Drama Building. Hours of operation are noon to 5PM, Tuesday through Friday. Parking for UVA Drama performances is available at the Culbreth Road Parking Garage, conveniently located across Culbreth Road from the theaters.
For more information on the 2023-2024 UVA Drama season, visit our Current Season page.