The Women of Whitechapel
Jack the Ripper. Everyone knows the name, most know the story of the never identified serial killer who murdered five streetwalkers in 1880s London.
I remember when I first heard the name. I was about six or seven years old on a foggy night in Evanston walking with my dad and as dads do, he noted it was the kind of night Jack the Ripper would have done his work.
The character is now an infamous antihero starring in plays, books, movies etc. The other night I got to see the first reading of a brand new play Women of Whitechapel by Kate Black-Spence and Chris Brickhouse that asks the question, why does this anonymous, masturbating psychopath get more attention than the human beings he viciously butchered?
The play simply presents the five women: Catherine Eddowes (played in the reading by Lisa Herceg) Annie Chapman (Courtney Jones) Mary Anne "Polly" Nichols (Song Marshall) Mary Anne Kelly (Jess Ervin) and Elizabeth Stride (Jess Maynard) sitting together in the afterlife finally having the opportunity to tell their own story, in which they were not merely victims but people.
These women were all of the working class, all driven by destitution, and most by abusive marriages, alcoholism, dead children and other tragedies, into prostitution.
The women bicker and banter entertainingly and the script gives the space to all of these characters and their individuality. We get to know Polly, an alcoholic trying to kill the pain of her past, Annie, a Christian in denial about the life she has been forced into, Mary Anne, the youngest and most optimistic, Elizabeth, a fabulist spinning tall tales, and Catherine, tough and cynical but also the loving and maternal figure of the group.
My favorite kind of script is one that heavily blends tones. I don't believe in the strict "tragedy" and "comedy" boxes because I don't think life is divided into those boxes. This is a very dark and sad story told with a heavy dose of humor.
One of my favorite moments was Eddowes' passionate, heartfelt existential cry that she lived before she died, immediately followed by a drily witty comment from Stride "Well. Obviously." The well constructed humor of the script keeps its earnest message from ever sliding into pomposity.
It all builds to an ending I found incredibly moving, that celebrates the power of women to take control of their lives even if they have to bend the laws of the universe itself to do it.
I wish I could entreat my teeming millions of blog readers to see the show but alas the reading was a one night affair. I do however strongly encourage any theatre company looking for an intelligent, witty, painfully sad, triumphantly feminist drama to think about giving this piece the full production it deserves.
I remember when I first heard the name. I was about six or seven years old on a foggy night in Evanston walking with my dad and as dads do, he noted it was the kind of night Jack the Ripper would have done his work.
The character is now an infamous antihero starring in plays, books, movies etc. The other night I got to see the first reading of a brand new play Women of Whitechapel by Kate Black-Spence and Chris Brickhouse that asks the question, why does this anonymous, masturbating psychopath get more attention than the human beings he viciously butchered?
The play simply presents the five women: Catherine Eddowes (played in the reading by Lisa Herceg) Annie Chapman (Courtney Jones) Mary Anne "Polly" Nichols (Song Marshall) Mary Anne Kelly (Jess Ervin) and Elizabeth Stride (Jess Maynard) sitting together in the afterlife finally having the opportunity to tell their own story, in which they were not merely victims but people.
These women were all of the working class, all driven by destitution, and most by abusive marriages, alcoholism, dead children and other tragedies, into prostitution.
The women bicker and banter entertainingly and the script gives the space to all of these characters and their individuality. We get to know Polly, an alcoholic trying to kill the pain of her past, Annie, a Christian in denial about the life she has been forced into, Mary Anne, the youngest and most optimistic, Elizabeth, a fabulist spinning tall tales, and Catherine, tough and cynical but also the loving and maternal figure of the group.
My favorite kind of script is one that heavily blends tones. I don't believe in the strict "tragedy" and "comedy" boxes because I don't think life is divided into those boxes. This is a very dark and sad story told with a heavy dose of humor.
One of my favorite moments was Eddowes' passionate, heartfelt existential cry that she lived before she died, immediately followed by a drily witty comment from Stride "Well. Obviously." The well constructed humor of the script keeps its earnest message from ever sliding into pomposity.
It all builds to an ending I found incredibly moving, that celebrates the power of women to take control of their lives even if they have to bend the laws of the universe itself to do it.
I wish I could entreat my teeming millions of blog readers to see the show but alas the reading was a one night affair. I do however strongly encourage any theatre company looking for an intelligent, witty, painfully sad, triumphantly feminist drama to think about giving this piece the full production it deserves.
Comments
Post a Comment