(From left) Heberth Rojas, of Bloomfield, as Phidippides; Brendan Schlenker, of Oakland, as Socrates; and John Kroner, of Hillsdale, as Strepsiades.
PARAMUS, N.J. – Bergen Community College’s student thespian group, Bergenstages, has set its sights on “The Clouds.” Aristophanes’ ancient Greek comedy, opening at Bergen Friday, Feb. 26, addresses topics such as finance, credit, debt and the purpose of education that remain hot-button issues today.
First produced in 423 B.C., the play depicts the protagonist, Strepsiades, who enrolls his son, Phidippides, in Socrates’ school to learn how to use rhetoric to chase away creditors. But when Phidippides uses his newly learned skill for his own purposes, the father learns a deeper understanding of right and wrong.
The show runs Thursdays through Saturdays from Friday, Feb. 26 to Saturday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m. – with a special panel discussion following the Thursday, March 3 performance – in the College’s Ender Hall Lab Theatre, located at main campus, 400 Paramus Road. On Saturday, Feb. 27 and March 5, matinee performances take place at 2 p.m.
Ticket prices for the general public are $15, with discounts offered to senior citizens, Bergen faculty and students. Guests can purchase tickets by calling (201) 447-7428 or online at tickets.bergen.edu.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls 16,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip J. Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.
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