Eastern Student Caitlighn Foley Opens New Theatre with "Pedro, The Great Pretender"

2016 Nov 28

Caitlighn Foley '17, an Eastern Connecticut State University student from Avon, helped christen the brand new Proscenium Theatre with an inaugural performance of "Cervante's Pedro, The Great Pretender." The historic occasion -- the first major production of the Theatre Program to occur in that venue -- took place within Eastern's new Fine Arts Instructional Center from Nov. 8 to 13.

The classic play by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, a playwright of the Spanish Golden Age, follows the tricks of Pedro, a master pretender whose escapades involve him with a slew of characters and careers as he struggles to find his true vocation in life.

Foley majors in Theatre with a concentration in Design, Technology and Management. In "Pedro," Foley worked on lighting design.

"Our first production in our new Proscenium Theatre hopes to honor Cervantes' timeless subversive satire by connecting the centuries of his day and ours," said Ellen Faith Brodie, director and theatre professor at Eastern. "The costumes evoke the Spanish Golden Age paintings of Velasquez and his contemporaries. The scenic design was inspired by the 20th-century Spanish artist Jean Miro.

"Cervantes lives on in Pedro and we live on through the hopes and dreams of both the author and his creations," continued Brodie. "We are all Pedro: pretenders in many costumes wearing many masks and dreaming of a better life and a better world."

At Eastern, Foley has also worked as the lighting designer for "Power Plays: 'Out of Our Father's House'"; stage manager for "Whacked"; and crew for "On The Verge," "The Laramie Project" and "The Skin of our Teeth"; and acted in "Prelude to a Kiss."