The Brandeis Theater Company kicked off its inaugural season Friday night with an extraordinary production of Charles L. Mee's iconoclastic tragicomedy Big Love, directed by Gray Simmons. Playing to a packed house, the actors ran, danced, dragged and threw themselves across Spingold's Laurie Theater in one of the most aesthetically impressive productions Brandeis has seen in a long time.Big Love is a modern adaptation of ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus' The Suppliant Women, following 50 runaway Greek brides who land in an Italian villa after fleeing forced engagements to their 50 cousins, and the raucous battle of the sexes that ensues. The play is structured around a series of ruminations and celebrations on the topics of love and marriage. The characters-a grabbag of idealists, cynics, romantics, hedonists and others-are introduced one by one and, with each entrance, we hear their thoughts, experiences and longings. The tension builds until finally, during the play's courtroom climax, the truth, with all its exceptions and contradictions, is finally elucidated.

As the play opens, we find a terrified and disheveled Lydia (Jessa Saidel '07) dressed in a filthy wedding dress as she stumbles upon the house of the wealthy Piero (Anthony Stockard, GRAD), his mother Bella (Ava Haddad Geffen, Equity) and nephew Giuliano (Matthew Crider, GRAD). She begs for asylum for herself and her sisters, pleading that their betrothals are unjust and inhumane.

As Piero exits to ponder offering refuge, Lydia is joined by two of her sisters, Olympia (Hannah Wilson, GRAD) and Thyona (Sara Oliva, GRAD) as they charge in like beasts and break into an energetic sing-along to Lesley Gore's girl-group classic "You Don't Own Me"-the first of many pop songs employed to great effect.

When the sisters are soon discovered by their furious cousins-Nikos (Brian Weaver, GRAD), Oed (Joshua Davis, GRAD) and Constantine (Eli Hannuna '08)-conflict begins.

Saidel, Wilson and Oliva gave superb performances as the sisters. Each epitomized a different temperament. While Olympia was a ditzy, yet loyal blonde, and Thyona was a distrustful, anger-prone feminist, Lydia proved the most dynamic, growing with each scene as her anger and hurt receded, and her blossoming love for Nikos, her husband-to-be, was discovered.

Saidel proved she was up to the challenge of her first department production, radiating intensity through graceful movements and constantly displaying wrenching emotions though facial expressions. Wilson played up the oft-ridiculous Olympia's sensitivities, receiving endless laughs and sympathy from the audience.

Crider also displayed a good sense of comic timing as the flamboyantly gay and sometimes cross-dressing Guiliano. Weaver was believably innocent and naave as Nikos, and Hannuna was very well cast as the macho, demanding Constantine.

These performances were nevertheless eclipsed by the production's aesthetic aspects. The set, designed by Kathryn Monthei (GRAD), was simple and flawless, following Mee's stage directions, which state that the set "should not be real, or naturalistic. It should not be a set for the piece to play within, but rather something against which the piece can resonate." Monthei surrounded the raised stage with some off-white pillows and placed a charming vintage bathtub on its rotating track. The monochromatic, bare setup was complimented by the white gowns of the women and black suits of the men (designed by Rebecca E. Farmer, GRAD) and especially by the rose petals which cascaded from the ceiling during selected scenes and some bright tomatoes that were smashed on the floor by Bella.

The choreography was also masterful. After being discovered by the men, the sisters continually threw themselves to the ground while the theme song from Laverne and Shirley played, denouncing their need for men. The brothers ape this method of self-torture in a later scene, shouting about the difficulties of being a man, before nearly destroying the set with baseball bats.

Director Simons was thrilled with the outcome of the show, raving about the accomplishment of his cast. "They threw themselves with emotion and precision that they each brought personally," he said. "I provided the framework and they brought the rest.