An Exploration Of Gender And Desire Takes The Digital Stage In ‘Distinguished Villa’

Elizabeth Lovelady

Ghostlight Ensemble continues its series on historically overlooked female playwrights with Distinguished Villa, a play by the Irish playwright Kate O’Brien dealing with the suffocating consequences that can come from the trappings of middle-class life.

Though written in 1926, Distinguished Villa, has a modernness to it and a feeling of relevancy that time has proved many of O’Brien’s male counterparts lack, according to director Elizabeth Lovelady.

“When I read Distinguished Villa, I was amazed with how contemporary it felt, particularly in regard to the way it challenged gender norms and represented female sexuality,” Lovelady said. “While these characters were born of another era, their interior battles are strikingly similar to those we all currently face. I think it serves as a reminder of the many commonalities humans have across time and distance.” 

Distinguished Villa portrays the desperate lives led by the commuting class. In it, Mabel Hemworth boasts she and her husband "are known round here as the model of what a married couple should be." But the arrival and then potential departure of a female lodger makes Mabel’s husband realize he is, in fact, profoundly miserable. Frances meanwhile has developed a mutually loving relationship with another man. This is not a story with a happily ever after ending, however.

In the play, we see the seeds of what later became a hallmark of O'Brien's work — groundbreaking depictions of the sexual frustrations of women and an understanding of the wide diversity of sexuality and gender expression.

The cast is: August Forman, Christian Cook, Micah Figueroa, Allison McCorkle, Jordan Ford and Kim Fukawa. Full bios of the actors, director and playwright are available on Ghostlight’s website at www.ghostlightensemble.com/distinguished-villa

The initial broadcast of Distinguished Villa takes place over Zoom at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 11, 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.

Additional upcoming readings include:

• April 18: Mine Eyes Have Seen by Alice Dunbar Nelson and War Brides by Marion Craig Wentworth, directed by Angelisa Gillyard

• 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.

Up Next: Distinguished Villa, a groundbreaking depiction of gender expression diversity

For Your (Re)Consideration continues next weekend with Distinguished Villa by Kate O'Brien at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 11.

Distinguished Villa, written in 1926, tells the story of Mable Hemworth, a houseproud, lower-middle class wife more concerned with keeping up appearances than responding to her spouse Natty's affections. Natty falls for Frances Llewellyn, a bookish, artistic, neighbor, with ultimately tragic consequences.

In Distinguished Villa, we see the seeds of what later became a hallmark of O'Brien's work — groundbreaking depictions of the sexual frustrations of young women, and an understanding of the wide diversity of sexuality and gender expression.

This virtual reading is directed by Chicago-based theatre artist Elizabeth Lovelady. The cast includes: August Forman, Christian Cook, Micah Figueroa, Allison McCorkle, Jordan Ford and Kim Fukawa.

The initial broadcast of Distinguished Villa takes place over Zoom at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 11, and a talkback with the director will take place immediately following. A recording of the performance will be available afterward to stream through May 9.

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

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.