Theatre / april de angelis
Review: Playhouse Creatures, Tobacco Factory
Imagine going to the theatre and seeing only men on stage. If you had watched a play before the 1660s, you might have spied one or two female faces among the cast, but all in disguise. Then, in 1662, King Charles II decreed that only women should play women: and so the ‘playhouse creatures’ were born.
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School’s graduating students transport us to the shabby, candlelit dressing room of these early actresses. Emerging from the gloom are the bright stars of English theatre. If you’re up on your history, you may recognise the names, as April de Angelis’ 1993 play is part-truth, part-fiction: Nell Gwynn, the Earl of Rochester and Mrs Betterton are all here.
is needed now More than ever
But the action opens with a fictional woman, Doll Common. Her name suggests both prostitute and everywoman and, throughout the play, Lily Donovan’s nuanced performance brings out both. The theatre, Doll tells us, used to be a bearpit: and as the action unfolds it’s clear that the fate of these actresses is also in the hands of others, from ‘keepers’ to playwrights.
The women move from success to crisis, with pregnancy, betrayal and opportunity all affecting their stage careers. Presiding over them all, Hannah Bristow was particularly well cast as the uptight Mrs Betterton. Her limitation? Her age – but she’s not discarded without some passionate speeches and a Lady Macbeth-style demise.
There are successes, too, like Mrs Barry (Whitney Kehinde), who floats like a ghost through early scenes before clambering to success with the death of her love interest and sometime tutor, the rogueish Earl of Rochester (Josh Finan).
Deeply moving, this play is also laugh-out-loud funny, full of witticisms about the theatre and life. There are also some admirable impressions of bad acting as the actors move from the staid acting of old (“Heavenly abandonment at midday. Death at a quarter to three”) to a more naturalistic style.
Not easy to pull off, but the BOVTS students deliver just the right tone to make you laugh, cry and think. I might go again.
Playhouse Creatures continues at Tobacco Factory Theatres until Saturday, June 18. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.tobaccofactorytheatres.com/shows/playhouse-creatures