 Playhouse Creatures by April De Angelis
ALL RESEARCH MUST BE IN YOUR
OWN WORDS. ANYTHING COPIED MUST BE PUT IN QUOTATION MARKS AND YOU MUST SAY
WHERE IT HAS COME FROM.
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Roughly what years is the play set
in?
This period is called the
Restoration. What is the Restoration?
What was being restored and where
had it been?
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The play is set in 1663.
The Restoration began when the English, Scottish and the Irish didn’t
have any Monarchs-(Monarchy is where there isn’t any Kings/Queen to take
charge.) and the Restoration restored when Charles ll was invited back after
living in France for a few years.
“The term Restoration is used to describe both the actual
event by which the monarchy was restored, and the period of several years
afterwards in which a new political settlement was established. It is very
often used to cover the whole reign of Charles II (1660–1685) and often the
brief reign of his younger brother James II (1685-1688).
In certain contexts it may be used to cover the whole period of the later
Stuart monarchs as far as the death of Queen Anne and the accession of the
Hanoverian George I in 1714; for
example Restoration
comedy typically encompasses works written as late as 1710.”
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Actresses in Restoration
theatre. Why was this new? What had happened?
How were actresses treated?
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“Womanizing King Charles II bans
boys from playing female parts, deciding it's much more pleasant to watch
beautiful women like Margaret Hughes.”
It was new for woman to be on stage because before Charles ll made a change to English Theatre-(allowing
woman to be on stage), woman were not seen “fit” for the job-
“Acting was
considered an immodest occupation, and not fit for women.”
Woman in Restoration theatre were not treated as equals to men, men
still got paid a lot more, and woman were mainly there to show their breasts
and legs. Woman didn’t get much say in what they did either, they had to do
what the men wanted them to do.
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All the characters are taken
from history apart from Doll Common.
Although De Angelis does not restrict herself to historical accuracy
in the play.
What is your character’s real
life history?
Doll Common is a Ben Johnson
character (The Alchemist) – if you are playing her, you can research her!
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“Doll Common
Doll Common’s name is perfect for her profession, prostitution. While Doll is
short for Dorothy, it also means a whore. She is, however, very clever, able
to join in and improvise with Face and Subtle to fleece their victims. She
plays the Fairy Queen for Dapper and an unnamed lady who is half mad from
studying theology for Mammon. She prepares to serve as a regular prostitute
for the supposed Spanish count (Surly in disguise). She befriends the stupid
Dame Pliant to get money out of her. In the first scene she speaks of the
“venture tripartite” where the three crooks are equal, but it is clear that
she is subservient to the men. She seems to be running a prostitution
business with Face on the side, for he is her pimp. The men draw straws each
night to see who will have her company. She names Subtle as the “Sovereign”
of their group, and Face as the “General,” and she calls herself their
“republic,” the public property. She does not seem to be in on the planning
of their venture. She is however a peacemaker, trying to get the rival men to
work together.”
About The Alchemist;
“The Alchemist is a comedy by English
playwright Ben Jonson. First performed in 1610 by the King's Men, it is generally considered Jonson's best and most
characteristic comedy; Samuel
Taylor Coleridge claimed that it had one of the three most perfect plots
in literature. The play's clever fulfilment of the classical unities and vivid depiction of human folly have made it one of
the few Renaissance plays (except the works of Shakespeare) with a continuing life on stage (except for a period of
neglect during the Victorian era).”
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What was Restoration acting
like?
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There was a lot of comedy in restoration acting.
They had loads of comedy acting because life was really low as the
country was being led by the puritans who closed down all the theatres for 18
years.
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List here all your research
sources. Full titles of books and authors. Full addresses of web pages.
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The Script
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