Correction appendedI first realized that the Brandeis Theater Company was going to perform Sunday in the Park with George when I picked up the State of the Arts magazine published each semester and skimmed through it. "Oh," I thought, "it's based on that painting by Georges Seurat."

My memory floated back to the middle school art class in which I first heard that name. I flipped to the page in the magazine that focused on Sunday, and I immediately remembered the painting. In the magazine, there was a picture of one of the opening scenes of the show, but something wasn't quite right. It looked the same, but there was an element missing. Then I realized that the actors were arranged on stage exactly how the subjects of the painting were placed.

At first, I was amused; it seemed silly. "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" is a lighthearted painting. Pointillism, a meticulous and painstaking style of painting that uses small dots of paint instead of brushstrokes to define a figure, is a style that is not suited for dramatic or ponderous imagery, so its translation into drama seemed contrived to me. I couldn't see how a story that would be deep and dramatic enough to be called theater proper could be lifted from just an image.

However, as I read on and continued researching this show, I discovered that the depth of the play is realized through a transcendental "doubled layer" of stories. The narrative encompasses Georges Seurat's struggles with this painting more than the fictionalization of the lives of the painted characters. In fact, philosophical struggles are the foundation of the story.

The music and lyrics were created by the timeless Stephen Sondheim and the storyline by James Lapine. As a parallel to the pointillist style of the painting, the sounds that Sondheim put onto paper are "pointillist" as well.

The story is modernist, surreal and thought-provoking-and though it goes into the philosophy of aesthetics and the relationship between an artist and his product, a love story is entangled within as well.

Rob St. Laurence '11 is playing George, the main character; Robert Orzalli '11 plays Franz, a jealous and handsome coachman; and Ell Getz '13, who plays a twin named Celeste, is maintaining a "backstage blog" that details some of her experiences behind the scenes.

Sunday in the Park with George is slated to be a shining moment in Brandeis theater history and will definitely be an experience for all to enjoy. Sunday will play from Nov. 18 to 21 at the Spingold Mainstage. Tickets can be bought at the Shapiro Campus Center box office, at the Spingold Theater box office and online.

Correction: The article originally gave the incorrect occupation of a character. Franz is a coachman, not a soldier.