In todays lesson we were given the script to Playhouse Creatures written by April de Angelis in 1987.
The play was based in 1663, and is has a very old english style text. It is set in a theatre, were young women are working as "Actresses" but in the 17th century, being an actress was not seen as a respectful job and the women are treated in very sexist way, and are almost made fun of by the men in the play. Interestingly, there are only three male parts in the play, as it is such a female heavy piece, I feel there is a hint of feminism coming from April De Angelis within this play.
The women are cocky, smart and cunning and are not to be pushed around by the men. But I learned from reading some of the script that the women need men to be protected and to have some kind of status within their society.
They express their need for wealth, and come up with silly ideas on how to make money. Nell Gwynn, who is a big character in this play, seems to be a very smart women and forms a relationship with King Charles the 2nd as his long term mistress.
My current feelings on the play are curiosity and excitement. It is such a powerful play and has strong femininity and meaning to it.I feel it will definitely be a challenging performance for myself, but I am looking forward to playing one of the characters, as they all have interesting personas and are not as you would think they are, I envisioned the women in this play to be slightly ditsy and totally reliant on men, but as I research and read more of the script I realise that the women are sort of using men just for their status and power, in order to gain a higher status and to be well known, ultimately to heighten their acting careers!
This play is a great choice for myself and my group as it is challenging, exciting and rather moving in some ways.
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| APRIL DE ANGELIS |
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