Happy New Year, all! So far, the new year has been quite busy and filled with good friends, good theatre, lots of food and essay writing. I’ve sent off applications to two of the four Playwriting programs that I’m applying to, which is why I haven’t had time to post anything.
Friday night, my London roommate and I went to see In the Next Room (or the vibrator play) and we absolutely loved it. It was such a great play to start the new year with: entertaining, well-written and unapologetically feminist. Despite being set in the late 19th century, it deeply resonates with modern audiences. Its take on female sexuality and male power was fresh and a worthy antidote to stereotypical fare (and especially fare set around the same time). I likened it to Mad Men when we were discussing it on the subway, that we watch it and are simultaneously entertained by the story and judging it with hindsight. It’s another one that I think would play well in London, Royal Court, maybe? I’ve since read this article that references it (I must have missed it during my Lost Weekend earlier this month) and highlights its freshness. Be warned, there’s a bit of a spoiler that ruins the magic of the ending. Another great thing about the play? Taylor Mac was there, but we didn’t recognize him without his make up until we saw him again on the subway.
Another Victorian era play in New York at the moment is the Pearl’s production of Misalliance. I had never seen a Shaw play before (to my recollection) and this one took awhile for me to get into it, but once I was, I enjoyed it. Some of the accents were a little bit off, but the set and costumes were gorgeous.
The two plays make an interesting pair. Both plays feature rambunctious women, loveless relationships, authoritative men and period costume, but the gendered perspective (and hundred years or so between when they were written) make them entirely different experiences. I’m glad I saw them in the order I did, it makes it feel like theatrical progress is being made.
