(As Prepared)

Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Allaince Francaise, Bell Village

Distinguished guests;
Good evening.

It is a real honor for me to be with you this evening.

I was thrilled to learn that “A View from the Bridge” is taught as part of the English Literature program in high schools in Mauritius.  I am grateful to Pascal Nadal, an alumnus of our International Visitor Leadership program, for coming up last year with the wonderful idea of staging this play, which students would otherwise see only on the printed page.  Let me also thank the Mauritius Institute of Education for their collaboration in this great effort.

Mauritian students are part of the global community not only through the new ties of technology and travel, but also through the rich and diverse culture of their native country.  Your multi-lingual heritage is a wonderful thing, and each of those languages is a miraculous vehicle of communication.  With the highest respect for all of them, especially in light of the generous collaboration of “L’Alliance Française,” let me praise the English language for a moment.  English language skills offer to Mauritian students  access to   higher education in the United States or other parts of the world, and opportunities in international business, science and technology as well as   access to another world of personal learning and enjoyment.

I am also glad to say that theatre is not dead in the United States!  Broadway productions still entertain millions of theatergoers even as productions have become more complex and costly.  At the same time, theater has also served as a means of r expression, and a venue for  exploring ideas for under served and  under-represented communities, who have formed their own companies and created their own works.  Theater is very much alive in the United States, and we hope to see more of it in Mauritius too.

Tonight, thousands of kilometers from the United States, we are about to see a great American play enacted on stage for the first time in Mauritius, by some very talented young artists and theater lovers.  Arthur Miller’s play “A View from the Bridge” reaches far beyond the Brooklyn Bridge.  It is a story of the kinds of conflicts all of us face as human beings. 

Arthur Miller wrote that “the prime business of a play is to arouse the passions of its audience” in order to open up new relationships and understanding.  I am sure that will happen tonight.

Thank you again for coming, and enjoy the evening.