ADVENTUROUS ARTISTS SEEKING
ADVENTUROUS AUDIENCES
#HBGFRINGE2024
Welcome to clown town. Join Annabella on an adventurous, relationship-driven, wordless romp through her very own Jacobean revenge tragedy, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore. Fear not: no familiarity with John Ford’s source text is needed to follow the heroine of our devised work to her tumultuous conclusion.
Scenes:
1. The Shoes
2. The Coat
3. The Ukulele Case
4. The Briefcase
5. The Glasses
6. The Wedding
7. The Ties
8. An Interlude
9. The Coat (reprise)
A Lengthy Brief Note: I truly am at a loss for concise language about this show. It elicits more questions from me than answers, which is a good sign of something worth my time. Annabella herself, the sole human resident of clown town, is indeed a question. The source material for this show is 'Tis Pity She's A Whore: written by a man, in a genre dominated by men (someone please show me a revenge tragedy not authored by a man--I would love to read it!) portraying a hypermasculine world of scholars, soldiers, fops, clergy, and, pardon the anachronism, boomers. All this, portrayed by only men, as it was first authored and performed prior to England's allowance of female actresses on the professional stage. Pardon me but, this all feels pretty silly for a play who's title has the pronoun "she" in it. Something to clown about perhaps?
Make no mistake, clowning is absolutely a form of subversion. For me, it is about making trouble, nothing being as it seems, and upending the judgements presented by the title of this show's source material. (Oh, what a shame she's a slut). Instead of approaching with judgement, I'd rather ask Annabella: why DOES she choose to pursue a relationship with her brother? What makes this, in here mind, the her best option? What are the nature of her relationships with the other female characters in this play? Hopefully you'll find your own answers as you watch Annabella get into some trouble today.
Scenes:
1. The Shoes
2. The Coat
3. The Ukulele Case
4. The Briefcase
5. The Glasses
6. The Wedding
7. The Ties
8. An Interlude
9. The Coat (reprise)
A Lengthy Brief Note: I truly am at a loss for concise language about this show. It elicits more questions from me than answers, which is a good sign of something worth my time. Annabella herself, the sole human resident of clown town, is indeed a question. The source material for this show is 'Tis Pity She's A Whore: written by a man, in a genre dominated by men (someone please show me a revenge tragedy not authored by a man--I would love to read it!) portraying a hypermasculine world of scholars, soldiers, fops, clergy, and, pardon the anachronism, boomers. All this, portrayed by only men, as it was first authored and performed prior to England's allowance of female actresses on the professional stage. Pardon me but, this all feels pretty silly for a play who's title has the pronoun "she" in it. Something to clown about perhaps?
Make no mistake, clowning is absolutely a form of subversion. For me, it is about making trouble, nothing being as it seems, and upending the judgements presented by the title of this show's source material. (Oh, what a shame she's a slut). Instead of approaching with judgement, I'd rather ask Annabella: why DOES she choose to pursue a relationship with her brother? What makes this, in here mind, the her best option? What are the nature of her relationships with the other female characters in this play? Hopefully you'll find your own answers as you watch Annabella get into some trouble today.
