Public Opens “L’Hotel”; CMU Drama Produces “The Trojan Women: A Love Story” (CPs Thurs., 11/13/14)

Oscar Wilde: “Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about it.”

1) What do Oscar Wilde and Isadora Duncan have in common with Jim Morrison of The Doors and opera composer Gioacchino Rossini? Though none were French, all are buried in the historic Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. And, along with two natively French yet equally dead icons—Victor Hugo and Sarah Bernhardt—they are characters in L’Hotel, a play that resurrects these strange grave-fellows for a few rounds of high-spirited bickering about life, art, and the meanings thereof. The Public’s production is a world premiere. Playwright Ed Dixon promises some entertaining intellectual fisticuffs but no resolution, noting that the residents of L’Hotel are doomed to “duke it out in eternity.” 8 p.m. Continues through Dec. 14. Pittsburgh Public Theater at the O’Reilly Theater, 621 Penn Ave., Cultural District.

2) Radical remakes of old theater performances are red-hot. The surprise hit in Chicago this season has been Sean Graney’s All Our Tragic, an epic 12-hour mashup of numerous ancient Greek tragedies, while Pittsburgh’s No Name Players scored with Fixing King John by Kirk Lynn, which re-cast Shakespeare’s king as a tough-talking construction boss in a hard hat. Such plays don’t succeed merely on gimmickry. They deliver the goods, bringing old stories to throbbing modern life. In that vein comes The Trojan Women: A Love Story, written by the idiosyncratic Charles Mee as part of his lifelong “(re)making project.” The play is an updated riff on Euripides’ The Trojan Women, and its subject is one that remains all too pertinent: the shocking toll of war and conquest. 8 p.m. Produced by the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, it runs through Nov. 22. Philip Chosky Theater in Carnegie Mellon’s Purnell Center for the Arts, 5000 Forbes Ave., Oakland.

3) Mario’s East Side hosts Team Trivia Night every Thursday. Win, place, or show and your team will earn Mario’s gift certificates. Play against the Miller Lite Girls, and you could even win Miller Lite trinkets and giveaways! 8 p.m. 5442 Walnut St., Shadyside.

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