Paramours, pranks and pistols: Mercer Players bring A Flea to her Ear to life

“A Flea in Her Ear”—a dramatic work known for its hilarious absurdity and ludicrous circumstances—will be performed by the Mercer Players at Tattnall Square Center for the Arts from Sept. 24 to Oct. 4.

The play focuses on misunderstandings between husbands and wives, affairs, a crudely named hotel, and a gun. As the story unfolds, the audience is immersed in the lives of two couples.

The first couple consists of Raymonde and Victor Chandebise. The couple starts off innocent enough - until Raymonde begins to suspect her husband is cheating.

In order to catch him in a lie, she and her friend Lucienne, performed by Ashley Greene, writes a love letter to him suggesting that they meet up at the hotel.

Don Carlos Homenides de Histangua, played by Chiyanne Wilson, discovers this letter. He notices his wife Lucienne’s handwriting and decides to pay the hotel a visit.

The jealousy between the couples begin to drive the characters to madness as their insecurities get the best of them. Will the couples realize their spouses are faithful, or will all end in disaster as Lucienne’s husband brings out his pistols?

Director Scott Mann and his cast have been hard at work, preparing for the opening.

“Just rehearsal with the actors is normally about 80 hours, not counting their personal time for research and line learning,” Mann said.

The total amount of time the students spend preparing for the production is immeasurable, not to mention the time the entire crew spends on setting up the stage, designing costumes, and creating sound effects.

“The design and building process for sets, lights, sound, and painting could take up to 200 hours,” Mann said.

Mann said he believes that theater is important because it “connects the community to Mercer” and its students through public performance.

“A great work will examine difficult subjects that provoke discussion and introspection,” Mann said, “(Theatre) connects the intellect to the emotions and soul.”

At Mercer, non-theater majors have the opportunity to get involved with aspects of a play, including those that do not require acting.

“As an intensely collaborative art, we need artisans, craftspeople, technicians, engineers, business, and publicity specialists,” said Mann.

“A Flea in Her Ear” will be performed on Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.