A simple meal becomes the driving force for change in BYU-Idaho’s upcoming production of “Babette’s Feast.”
Based on the 1958 short story by Karen Blixen under the name Isak Dinesen, “Babette’s Feast” tells the story of a French refugee who seeks refuge in a fractured Norwegian town. Out of generosity, she holds a feast that helps the entire community overcome its challenges. The story was made famous by the 1987 Academy-Award winning film and will now take the stage at BYU-Idaho.
“Babette’s Feast is such a beautiful story. There are so many good themes throughout, like God's grace and forgiveness, but I think the one that I connect to the most is artistry,” said Emmeline VanLeuven, who plays Babette. “I think it's because we're all artists in a sense, and we're children of the greatest artists of all time. But just to have the story about an artist who thinks that she's never going to be able to do her craft again, and to see how she reacts so gracefully is so inspiring.”
Elisabeth Clark, who plays Philippa in the play, echos that message and says the show helps her connect with God.
“I am so excited for people to come and see this show because it is such a beautiful story and just centers around God's grace and how important it is to recognize it in our lives and to be able to embrace that divine grace,” Clark said. “It’s really just all about learning to accept God's grace in your life and really turning towards him and loving him.”
The play is directed by Theatre Department faculty member Justin Bates. It opens Wednesday evening at 7:30 at the Black Box Theatre in the Snow Building on campus. There will be seven additional performances at 7:30 p.m. as well from Feb. 6- 8, 12-14 and then at 2 p.m. on Feb. 15.
“The first time I read it I didn't quite get it so it may take a few times to kind of understand it, but once you do it really changes and the way that you perceive God and divine grace and love,” Clark said.
“There's these lines at the end between Babette and Philippa about what it means to be an artist that I think can be very powerful if we let them. So, I'm excited for people to come see such a touching story,” VanLeuven said.
You can find tickets at tickets.byui.edu. They cost $8, or $5 with an I-Card.