Female Lead Fired From Mirandolina

The former female lead in an Adams House dramatic production said yesterday she was fired due to conflicts that erupted after she refused sexual advances from a male cast member.

Scarlett J. Marquette '93 said the two male leads in "Mirandolina" told the play's producer, Konstantinos Tsakonas '93, that they would quit if Marquette did not resign. The students, Phil Munger '92 and Julian F. Von Loesch '93, made this demand after Munger unsuccessfully "tried to seduce [her]," she said.

"From that point on, faced an escalating series of abuses from Phil and Julian that got to the point where I would be crying at every rehearsal," she said.

The 18th-century comedy by Carlo Goldoni was originally scheduled to open yesterday, but has been rescheduled for this Friday through Sunday nights.

But Tsakonas offered a different version of the events. He said that personal differences between three of the play's actors led to a series of arguments.

Eventually, Tsakonas said, he had to choose between losing the two male actors or firing Marquette.

"She was a difficult person to work with," said Tsakonas. "They all had strong personalities and we wanted them all to work together, but that just didn't seem possible."

Munger and Von Loesch could not be reached for comment last night.

Marquette said Tsakonas had been pleased with her performance, but was unable to persuade Munger and Von Loesch to drop their demand.

"The producer and director were both happy with my performance and wanted me to say," Marquette said. "They couldn't convince Phil and Julian, though, and they had to let me go,"

Tsakonas said that Marquette has threatened to sue if the play opens without her.

Although Marquette said she believes "an injustice has been done," she would not comment on whether she plans to take legal action.

Hasty Rehearsels

In the days that have followed Marquett's departure from "Mirandolina," the cast has conducted a hasty series of dress rehearsals so that the new actress, Anne Richards '95, could learn her lines.

"There's a lot of pressure because everything is so rushed, but I think it's going okay," Richards said.

"It's been a helish week," said Tsakonas. "Allthe actors are very worried because there's thefear of not being ready and there's still thelooming fear that the play will be stoppedsomehow."

Tsakonas said he is determined to go on withthe play despite the delay.

"We cannot let this play go down," Tsakonassaid. "Too many people have invested too much timemoney and effort to be disappointed.

"It's been a helish week," said Tsakonas. "Allthe actors are very worried because there's thefear of not being ready and there's still thelooming fear that the play will be stoppedsomehow."

Tsakonas said he is determined to go on withthe play despite the delay.

"We cannot let this play go down," Tsakonassaid. "Too many people have invested too much timemoney and effort to be disappointed.