Yale Daily News

Updated: Sunday, November 22, 2009 10:16 a.m.

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French by French in French for French

Contributing Reporter
Published Friday, November 14, 2008

A tragedy in five acts, Jean Racine’s “Britannicus,” as directed by Max Kahn ’09, is a calculated exercise in silence, movement, sound and lighting.

There is always an enveloping silence, even when the characters are speaking. The scarcity of movement creates tension, but when it is present — as in the caress of a cheek, the holding of hands, the raising of an arm as in declamation — it heightens the dialogue’s dramatic quality. The clear sound of footsteps behind the stage works in a similar fashion. The lighting’s fade-ups and fade-downs, together with the use of color, recreate...

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