The lights in Essex Hall Theatre have a specific, clinical hum before the house goes dark, a sound familiar to anyone who has spent a decade stalking the aisles of the University of Windsor’s dramatic arts wing. It is a space that has seen its share of safe Shakespeare and polite Chekhov. But the University Players are closing out their 59th season by throwing the rulebook into a woodchipper.
The season finale is the Windsor debut of *Big Love*, a piece of theatrical anarchy written by Charles L. Mee. It is a production that demands your attention from tonight, Mar. 23, through Mar. 25, before taking a brief hiatus for the Easter long weekend and returning for a final stretch from Apr. 4 to 8.
Mee did not just invent this story out of thin air. He cannibalized it from *The Suppliant Women* by Aeschylus. We are talking about one of the oldest surviving texts in the Western canon, a piece of Greek history that usually feels like it belongs under museum glass.
And yet, in the hands of this cast, it feels like a riot in a bridal shop. The plot is deceptively simple: 50 Greek brides flee their 50 grooms, crossing the sea to Italy to avoid a forced mass marriage. When the men track them down to claim their "property," the stage transforms into a literal and figurative chess match of the sexes.
Because staging 100 actors is a logistical nightmare even for a well-funded university program, each faction is represented by three core actors. These performers carry the weight of the collective, offering a raw look at the internal mechanics of love and the terrifying reality of having zero agency over your own skin.
The physicality of this production is not just window dressing; it is the entire house. Sean Williams, who takes on the role of the aggressive Constantine, points to the rigorous training behind the scenes.
"Our movement professor Gina Lori Riley focused on an approached performance method originated by Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki, which creates a very fantastical, realist type of atmosphere," says Williams.
If you are unfamiliar with the Suzuki method, know that it is brutal. It requires a punishing level of lower-body strength and a focus on the feet that would make a marathon runner weep. It is about grounding the actor in a way that makes every gesture feel heavy with intent.
Williams is banking on the fact that this discipline will translate into something the local audience has not seen before. It is a gamble on the sophistication of the Windsor theatre-goer.
This play challenges the stereotypical conceptions of what it means to be masculine and what it means to be feminine. I know the cast has taken it upon themselves challenging these understandings and that’s a little bit of what makes this such a fun project for us.
"So, when people come to this show, they’ll get a modern take on a fabulous Greek tragedy with some heightened realistic drama created through movement. There’s a lot of fantastic choreography that we’ve woven into the storyline and we’re eager to find out if Windsor audiences love the approach we’ve taken," says Williams.
Director Monica Dottor is not interested in playing it safe for the season closer. She has steered the production toward a collision of the ancient and the hyper-modern. While the bones of the play belong to Aeschylus, the skin is purely 21st century.
Dottor is adamant that this is a departure for the company. She describes the show as being "different than anything University Players has seen before."
The production leans heavily into the absurd. This is not a dry recitation of stanzas. It is a chaotic mix of food fights, gender politics and genuine violence. It treats the stage like a laboratory where the characters are forced to navigate the wreckage of their own desires.
"It’s really zany, it’s really wild, it has really important themes that resonate today. I think it’ll just be a really enjoyable evening," says Dottor.
But "zany" might be an understatement for a play that tackles the refugee crisis and domestic homicide in the same breath. Since its premiere in 2000, *Big Love* has acted as a post-modern mirror. It is a gender war where both sides are digging through the rubble of dysfunctional relationships, trying to find a version of love that does not involve ownership.
The University Players have made a bold casting choice here, utilizing both male and female actors across the board. Seeing men in wedding dresses is not just a visual gag; it is a direct assault on the audience’s preconceived notions of the binary.
Williams sees this as the core of the work. It is about stripping away the costumes we wear in daily life to see what lies beneath the lace and the tuxedos.
"This play challenges the stereotypical conceptions of what it means to be masculine and what it means to be feminine," says Williams. "I know the cast has taken it upon themselves challenging these understandings and that’s a little bit of what makes this such a fun project for us."
If there is a critique to be made, it is that the sheer volume of "physicality" can sometimes threaten to drown out Mee’s sharp dialogue. When actors are throwing themselves against padded walls, the nuance of the script can occasionally get lost in the thud. However, the energy is undeniable.
The schedule is tight. Evening performances from Wednesday to Saturday kick off at 8 p.m. sharp. For the matinee crowd, Saturday and Sunday shows start at 2 p.m.
If you want to pull back the curtain on the process, the performance on Sunday, Mar. 25, includes a "Talk Back" session. This is where the actors drop the facade and discuss the mental and physical toll of the Suzuki-inspired choreography.
Essex Hall Theatre sits on the corner of Wyandotte and Patricia, right in the heart of the University of Windsor campus. It is a trek for some, but for a production this ambitious, the commute is a small price.
Tickets are priced between $8 and $22. You can grab them online at www.UniversityPlayers.com or give them a shout at 519-253-3000 ext. 2808.
And you should. Because while many plays talk about the weight of love, this is one of the few that actually shows the bruises it leaves behind. It is messy, loud and occasionally frustrating, but it is never boring. That is more than you can say for most things on stage these days.
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