Angelisa Gillyard

Toll of war on those devalued by society examined in Mine Eyes Have Seen, War Brides

Mine Eyes Have Seen Banner (1).jpg
Angelisa Gillyard

Angelisa Gillyard

Ghostlight Ensemble continues its series on historically overlooked female playwrights with two one act plays — Mine Eyes Have Seen by Alice Dunbar Nelson and War Brides by Marion Craig Wentworth — that deal with wars and the battles families are forced to fight amongst themselves when someone is called to “serve.”

What attracted director Angelisa Gillyard to these scripts is their examination of war not from the soldier’s point of view, but as it is experienced by those left behind when soldiers go off to fight.

“Coming from a family in which many of the men have served in the military and fought on the front lines of war, I was immediately intrigued by Mine Eyes Have Seen,” Gillyard said. “I wondered how they came to their decisions to serve. Did they struggle with determining to whom they owe their greatest duty — family or country? 

“I also wanted to explore war from a woman’s point of view, and thus War Brides was a natural choice.  Women’s voices are not typically heard in conversations about war and this play brings them to the forefront.”

Written in the final years of World War I, Mine Eyes Have Seen is the story of a Black family that fled the South after the father’s lynching. His wife dies of heartbreak leaving their three children to fend for themselves. The children are now young adults, but Lucy, the youngest, and Dan, the oldest, are reliant on their brother, Chris, to support them. When Chris is drafted, he is forced to wrestle with the idea of serving a country that has not served his family. The play is an examination on the nature of patriotism, citizenship, sacrifice and what those mean for people who have been betrayed by their own country.

Published in 1915, War Brides looks at the role of women in supporting war at the home front, and the expectations that they willingly send their husbands and sons to die in wars. It highlights one woman’s determination, after her loss of a husband and brothers to war, to no longer become a tool for war. The play also demands that if women are expected to work and sacrifice for war, they should be given full voice in the decisions to go to war.

The cast for both shows is: Tai Alexander, Charles Franklin, Marcus John, Sydney Johnson, Ben Lauer, Bryanda Minix, Deidre Staples and Lindsay Williams. Angelisa Gillyard is a Washington, D.C.-based director who has worked with Young Playwrights’ Theater, Arena Stage, In Series, Studio Theatre, Freshh Theatre Inc, University of Maryland and Montgomery College. Full bios of the actors, director and playwright will be available on Ghostlight’s website at http://www.ghostlightensemble.com/mine-eyes-have-seen

The initial broadcast of Mine Eyes Have Seen and War Brides takes place over Zoom at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 18, and a talkback with the director will take place immediately following. A recording of the performance will be available to stream through May 9.

Tickets are pay what you will, with a minimum of $5 per reading and the average donation for such virtual offerings at $15. Tickets are available on our website at GhostlightEnsemble.com/For-Your-Reconsideration. Please make sure to select the production and performance you are interested in receiving a link to view.

Featuring a variety of distinct voices and styles from different historical periods, For Your (Re)Consideration seeks to bring attention to remarkable women who have been sidelined by history for reasons that had nothing to do with their talent and everything to do with their gender and, in many cases, their race. The series is curated by Ensemble Member Holly Robison. 

The initial play in the series, The Convent of Pleasure, written by Margaret Cavendish and directed by Andrew Coopman, premiered on April 2 and is now streaming on-demand, as is Distinguished Villa, written by Kate O’Brien and directed by Elizabeth Lovelady, which premiered on April 11.

Additional upcoming readings include:

  • April 25: Warp and Woof by Edith Lyttelton, directed by Christina Casano

  • May 2:  The Enchantment by Victoria Benedictsson, adapted by Clare Bayley, directed by Holly Robison

Find out more about For Your (Re)Consideration and the entire 2020-2021 Season at GhostlightEnsemble.com.

Exploration of Queerness and romance takes the digital stage as part of For Your (Re)Consideration series

Andrew Coopman

Andrew Coopman

Ghostlight Ensemble launches its new reading series, For Your (Re)Consideration, which explores the works of historically overlooked female playwrights, with The Convent of Pleasure by Margaret Cavendish at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 4.

Written in 1688, The Convent of Pleasure tells the story of a group of unmarried women, initiated by Lady Happy, who choose to avoid the pains or displeasures that exist in a male-dominated world and instead create their own community, or convent, of pleasure to create their own perfect, self-functioning society. This virtual reading is directed by Seattle-based Storytelling Interdisciplinary Artist Andrew Coopman. 

What drew Coopman to the piece is it is one of the earliest examples of not just queer narrative, but non-binary narrative as well.

The Convent of Pleasure is a story of two women falling in love and fighting against the cultural expectations placed upon them,” they explained. “And the REALLY wild part is that one of the two primary characters changes gender with no explanation during that last act, which her husband wrote. What could be overlooked or simply labeled a cross-dressing character is, I believe, something much more complex and beautiful and kick-ass and resilient.

The Convent of Pleasure is a great example of how history has erased and suppressed LGBTQ+ identity for comfort and ease, making it seem like a revolutionary or rebel idea of the last century or so,” Coopman continued. “But this beautiful romantic comedy is also a great example of the Queer community’s resilience and determination throughout history. We are Queer, we have been Queer, we have always been here, and it’s time to recognize and celebrate our story… and that’s why audiences should come watch our play.”

The cast of The Convent of Pleasure includes: Ensemble Member Song Marshall with Lotus Lindez, Cynthia Becker, Sagen Berry, Sebastian Summers, Aria Caldwell, Ira McIntosh and KJ Snyder.

As a director, choreographer, devisor, performer, playwright and teaching artist, Coopman has worked in a variety of theaters around the country including Seattle, New York City, Milwaukee and the Chicagoland area. Directing credits include: RE: Social/Divide (Cooperative Performance), Into The Woods (Studio East), Wilde Tales (Seattle Opera), James & The Giant Peach (Village Theater), Little Women The Musical (Seattle Musical Theatre) and the premier of The Sunflower Sisters (Eclectic Theater).

The initial broadcast of The Convent of Pleasure takes place over Zoom at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 4, and a talkback with the director will take place immediately following. A recording of the performance will be available afterward to stream through the end of April.

Tickets are pay what you will, with a minimum of $5 per reading and the average donation for such virtual offerings at $15. By donating more, if you are able, you help offset the cost for those who can’t afford to give. Tickets are available on the For Your (Re)Consideration page. Please make sure to select the production and performance you are interested in receiving a link to view.

Featuring a variety of distinct voices and styles from different historical periods, the virtual readings that make up For Your (Re)Consideration seek to bring attention to remarkable women who have been sidelined by history for reasons that had nothing to do with their talent and everything to do with their gender and, in many cases, their race. 

Sometimes referred to as the Other Canon, the work of these early female playwrights dates from Hrotsvitha in the 10th Century to Dorothy C. Guinn in the 1920s. Their plays are as much the building blocks of modern theatre as those of their male counterparts. Some good, some great, some successful in their time, some way ahead of their time, these women have found themselves all but erased from history and rarely, if ever, produced today.

The series is curated by Ensemble Member Holly Robison, who said she struck on the idea for the series a few years ago when she came across The Enchantment by Victoria Benedictsson, who was said to be an inspiration for Hedda Gabler and Miss Julie. 

“I thought it was absurd that those plays are heralded as classics and performed all the time, but I had never even heard of Benedictsson or her play,” Robison said. “I started thinking — what else was missed because the author was a woman? Or what plays and playwrights were never cultivated?”

Additional upcoming readings include:

  • April 11: Distinguished Villa by Kate O’Brien, directed by Elizabeth Lovelady

  • April 18: Mine Eyes Have Seen by Alice Dunbar Nelson, directed by Angelisa Gillyard

  • May 2:  The Enchantment by Victoria Benedictsson, adapted by Clare Bayley, directed by Holly Robison

Additional scripts are being finalized.

Find out more about For Your (Re)Consideration and the entire 2020-2021 Season at GhostlightEnsemble.com.