ENGAGED: a Theatre Hetaerae adaptation
Guest post by Leora Morris
The first time I read Gilbert’s Engaged (a wordy Victorian farce that inspired other wordy playwrights like George Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde), it seemed like its success and artistic power hinged entirely on how it used language to throw into question our rituals around courting, marriage, and money. The second time I read it, I thought “I wonder if we could tell this story without speaking”. And so, in our silent-film style version (which threatens to end happily several times) we’ve replaced words with a live (original) piano score, a distinct physical language, and title card slides.
Ten lines you won’t hear in our silent-film version of Engaged
The Scots:
“Dinna heed the water in my ee—it will come when I‘m ower glad”
“A gude girl loves her husband wi’ one love and her mither wi’ anither.”
“My hairt is sair at losing my only bairn; but I’m nae fasht wi’ ee.”
The Ladies:
“I love you madly, passionately; I care to live but in your heart, I breathe but for your love; yet, before I actually consent to take the irrevocable step that will place me on the pinnacle of my fondest hopes, you must give me some definite idea of your pecuniary position.”
“Lor, sir, kissing’s nothing; everybody does that.”
“I have come to the conclusion that it my duty to fall in with Cheviot’s views in everything before marriage, and Cheviot’s duty to fall into my views in everything after marriage.”
The Men:
“I will think out some cunning scheme to lure her into marriage unawares”
“Who is the unsightly scoundrel with whom you have flown—the unpleasant-looking scamp whom you have dared to prefer to me?”
“Why is it that when I love a girl I can think of no other girl but that girl, whereas, when a girl loves me she seems to entertain the same degree of affection for mankind at large?”
“If you would be truly happy in the married state, be sure you have your own way in everything”
10 Things You Might Be Strangely Reminded of in Engaged
1) That moment in TETRIS when the bricks start piling up
2) Today’s Special
3) The Hamburgler
4) Mary Poppins
5) Grade 7 school dances
6) Richy Rich comic books
7) PSY
8) The Importance of Being Earnest
9) The sounds of Super Mario Bros
10) Criminal line-up
Theatre Hetaerae’s Engaged is part of the 34th Annual Rhubarb Festival at Buddies and Bad Times Theatre. Shows are 8pm nightly from Wednesday February 20th to Sunday February 24th. For tickets: Box Office (416-975-8555) or go to tickets.buddiesinbadtimes.com
Directed by Leora Morris
Created and performed by Hume Baugh, Miranda Calderon, David Christo, Colin Doyle, Caitlin Driscoll, Alex Fallis, Sochi Fried, Eleanor Hewlings, Viv Moore, and Andy Trithardt
With Original live music by Scott Christian
and Costumes by Nina Okens
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