Drama Tuesday - Giving Voice to the silenced
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In my last post, I was immersed in the stews of Elizabethan London in Mat Osman’s The Ghost Theatre. This post jumps forward to Restoration Drama but is still immersed in the roiling hotpot of London theatre in a novel that features Aphra Bean told through the eyes of a fictive young woman named Tribulation Johnson. It's 1679 and the fierce and opinionated Tribulation Johnson is catapulted into the tumult, politics and colour of Restoration London and its lively theatre scene. Cast out from her family as ungodly and unworthy - Tribulation arrives in London on her own dressed in her dead brother’s clothes. Through Aphra, a cousin, Tribulation is immersed in the seedy, shabby yet fascinating world of the Dorset Garden Theatre, owned by the King’s brother, the Duke of York, one of the two permanent theatres in London. The other, owned by the King, Charles II, is Drury Lane. She meets the famed and the notorious. The story is redolent with names: writers and playwrights such as Samuel Pepys, Dryden; actors such as the Bettertons; politics; spies; treachery. And, of course, Aphra Bean herself. They are all brought to life through lively writing with strongly researched attention to detail.
The strength of this novel by Karen Brooks is the potent recreation of life in Restoration Theatre. The backstage detail, the technical and personal interweaving of the roles of the prompt, the actors and the audience, the cross referencing of plays and playwrights, provide a plausible and interesting imagined portrait of Restoration drama.
More than that, the story weaves in a powerful polemic about voices that are heard or suppressed. The subtitle of Brook’s title – A Woman Writes Back – signals the key theme.
This short excerpt from an imagined conversation between Aphra and Tribulation crystallises a challenging discussion point for drama students.
‘I’ve always believed,’ said, Aphra firmly, indicating I should pull up a chair, plays ought to be political – especially, when the time calls for commitment. As a woman, I cannot argue in Parliament or even in a coffee-house. I cannot vote in a guild nor run an office. I cannot take arms but I can write. My plays - the words I put in the characters' mouths, the plots, and themes, whether they are couched in comedy or drama, are like secret instructions to the people: instructions in things it's impossible to insinuate into them in any other way?’
Pages of scrawled notes, drafts of new plays and other writings fanned the surface of her desk. ‘You see yourself as teaching the audience, giving them lessons they don't even know they're having,’ I said as understanding dawned. Some plays were so silly, so salacious and outrageous, and yet Aphra was right. Just because something was humorous or bawdy didn't make it less profound. That was the shallow dressing in which deeper meanings were buried.
Aphra smiled. I loved her smile, the way it made her eyes glimmer, dance in the soft light of candles. The way her lips parted to reveal her even, creamy teeth. 'That's certainly one way to consider it. Maybe what I do is reach, rather than teach. That's at least something, don't you think?’ She placed her hand over mine. ‘Name one other way women can do that’. She waited. ‘No. neither can I. Through words - words I write, and which actresses like Elizabeth Barry, Mary Lee, Elizabeth Currer, your Charlotte and the rest perform - we speak to the audience, to other women especially. The hear us. They see us. It’s one of the reasons I make sure there's plenty for my female characters to say. There's a strength in numbers, Tribulation. Every general knows that. What's life but a constant battle for women? We must recruit others and join forces where we can. It’s only when we unite we have any might, that our voices are heard, and maybe even listened to. It’s why men work so hard to keep us apart, sow discord, interrupt, call us abhorrent names, sully reputations before they're even made. They try to silence us, turn us against each other because they're afraid of what we’ll achieve if we work together?’ She shifted on her chair, grimacing as the leg that sometimes ached caused her pain. ‘I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Fear makes men angry. Those they fear the most bear the brunt of that fury.’
"They must be terrified of you.’
Aphra gave a droll look. ‘Perhaps. Mind, there are still women who perceive females like me, like those in the Duke's and King's Companies, like Nell Gwyn, Moll Davis, the publisher, Joanna Brome, like you, as enemies. They take the men's part, become willing warriors for their causes, take up arms against those they should fight beside.
In my experience, women can make the very best of allies, but also the worst of adversaries.' She sighed. 'It's hard to forge ahead when you're always watching your back- as you've had cause to learn of late.’
I took a deep breath. ‘From here on in, I'll watch yours, Aphra.’ It was a vow.
Page 114-115
How do we give voice (if it is ours to “give”).
The challenge for drama teachers is giving voice to those silenced by history, culture, gender, identity and time. There are interesting case stories of how this challenge is being met (see, for example, the story of the development of Australian drama in a swamp of imported productions, women’s drama, First Nations Drama in Australia). The dilemma for drama teachers is cutting through the competing clamouring voices calling for recognition. In lifting up one voice, can we also drown out other voices?
Curriculum theorists remind us of the different types of curriculum such as the “hidden curriculum” – “the lessons which are learned but not openly intended to be taught in school such as the norms, values, and beliefs.”
They also remind us of the “Null Curriculum” – “… the options students are not afforded, the perspectives they may never know about, much less be able to use, the concepts and skills that are not part of their intellectual repertoire” (Eisner,1985, p. 107).
Every drama teacher, every teacher, makes choices. Choose wisely.
Bibliography.
Karen Brooks, 2023, The Escapades of Tribulation Johnson, Harper Collins, Sydney.
The appendices list the plays mentioned and the cast of characters as well as providing interesting background material on development of the narrative. Brooks is an Australian author.
