La Duchesse de Langeais - Michel Tremblay

Since I have been reading incessantly on Duchesses, I thought it would be good to pick up Tremblay's la Duchesse, given the irreverence with which he approaches most of existence. Tremblay's Duchesse, unlike our Lady of Malfi, is a middle-aged drag queen who has worked most of her life as a prostitute. Not just any, but in her eyes the most high class, respected woman imaginable. This two-act monologue shows us the many sides of this woman who has lived her whole existence in another skin so to speak, and even within this has opposing sides battling with one another to expose tidbits of truth. La Duchesse suffers, and brings the audience along in her suffering as she gets increasingly intoxicated drinking straight whiskey.

This piece is a bit of a tour de force, and would be brilliant to work on as a director.

On the Home Front

Read a great article in The Globe And Mail about a mixed race production of Tomson Highway's The Rez Sisters. Ken Glass, with the Factory Theatre in Toronto, had what some may consider politically or socially taboo; he had an open casting call (eg not calling specifically for aboriginal artists) to cast this play about aboriginal women on the reserve. I, for one, applaud the choice. I have always felt that the tendency to stick to racial descriptions of characters limits the potential of productions and exploration of the themes in the play. Certainly these women are set in a culturally specific place, and their language is culturally specific...but not any more so that Chekov's sisters are so.

Happily, the article reports that the playwright is more than pleased with this development. I have loved these characters from the first time I read this play, the beautifully funny, honest and open way these women take care of one another is moving, and tells us something about the human spirit in the face of adversity.

I wish I could be in Toronto to see it!

article link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/theatre/a-new-staging-of-the-rez-sisters-defies-political-correctness/article2229640/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=Referrer%3A+Social+Network+%2F+Media&utm_content=2229640&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links