Friday Follies: Monique, 1966

I’ve written before about the Faculty Play-reading Group, a relic of a more civilized time. This one was a real doozy:

 

The New York critics agreed that Monique was one of the most unusual plays to reach Broadway in many a season. A combination of mystery, terrifying suspense, and with just a touch of the supernatural thrown in for good measure, the play is at its core a study in the deterioration of human character under the devious attack of the basest (but unconquerable) passions. Monique, an attractive and domineering woman doctor, has ensnared Fernand, a man of good will unhappily married to the shrewish Lucienne. The latter refuses to divorce Fernand and, insidiously, very cleverly, Monique succeeds in implanting in the mind of the tormented man the obsession that there is only one course open to him: Lucienne must be removed. The two, conspiring together, evolve one of the most ingenious murder methods in all the annals of crime — absolutely foolproof and impossible to detect. The plan is put into operation; it is apparently a complete success; and then…

Sounds just like life in academia. The water ballet is just the cherry on top.

Bonus: From a regular informant, Main Quad Observation Deck. I might be mistaken but I have it in my mind that the statue was unveiled on this day in 1930. I know it was right around this time anyway. So, close enough.

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2 Responses to Friday Follies: Monique, 1966

  1. marmer01 says:

    8414 Hatton was a trim little rancher in Linkwood with an oval pool in the backyard. No doubt the scene of the water ballet. Razed in late 2013 for a larger house. NB; the swim party was _before_ the reading.

  2. effegee says:

    Right on the money about the date…. see https://ricehistorycorner.com/2011/03/16/willy-wrapped/

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