Philadelphia Artists' Collective
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Mission
    • Who We Are >
      • Meet the PAC
      • In Memoriam
    • Opportunities
    • Past Productions
  • Season
    • Trouble In Mind
    • Venture Reading Series
    • PAC(demic) Reading Club
    • New Venture Play Festival 20-21 Selections >
      • New Venture Play Festival 20-21 Production Teams
  • Tickets
    • Buy Tickets
    • PAC Pass Membership
  • Support Us
  • Education
  • Artist-in-Residence Program
  • Blog
  • Contact

Krista Apple-Hodge: Debauchery and Coffee Mugs, or: Why I Love the Restoration

1/28/2013

3 Comments

 
Picture
I love the Restoration for many, many reasons. We can thank this short, vivacious period of history for Wycherley’s brilliant satire The Country Wife. We can also thank the Restoration for… wait for it… the Commemorative Coffee Mug.

Here’s the story, or so it goes: when Charles II returned from exile in France to reclaim the throne, he celebrated with a seven-hour parade. The post-Cromwellian debauchery that ensued in London was unlike anything its citizens had seen in… well, a long time. And to commemorate the long-awaited event, Commemorative Coins and Coffee Mugs were, for the first time, sold on every London street corner. (I love to imagine the wry face of King Charles - ever Rupert Everett, in my mind, thanks to the movie Stage Beauty – smiling up at me from my morning cup of joe.)

To me, this erstwhile coffee mug sums up the beauty and dark delight of the Restoration, brief as it was: that whatever you have, and whomever you are, can be bought and sold – and fabulously remembered – for a price. A price that someone is always, somewhere, willing to pay.

The decadence that followed Charles’ return to England made increasingly clear the sharp divide between the working (middle) and leisure (high) classes of London, and of the divide between city values (?) and ‘country’ (suburb) simplicity. The division wasn’t just economic, of course (it never is). It was cultural, social, political.  And here’s where The Country Wife sits. Thank god for satire.

Wycherley’s city men think they’ve got all the answers they need; the city women think they’ve got all the best tricks up their sleeve. The distance between their reputation and their virtue is a pretty wide chasm. And everyone truly, truly believes that what they appear to be is not only good enough, but Actually The Point. This is exactly what Horner (played by Jake Blouch, in our reading) is capitalizing on and, I think, commenting on as well: he’s not just pulling the proverbial wool over the London husbands’ eyes because he’s horny. He’s also doing it Just Because He Can. He’s turned on by the women, no doubt. But he’s also, I think, captivated by the thrill of the hunt, and by watching these women (and, ergo, their men) shed their reputations right along with their lace garters.

And then there’s our dear Country Wife, Margery, the naïve girl from the country. I’ll tell you now, she ends up out-witting them all, and proving that the best pretense is no pretense at all. But I’m not going to tell you how – for that, you’ll have to join us on February 11.

And here’s the moment I love, the kind of moment that keeps me eternally devoted to the PAC: the moment where the imaginative distance between their world and ours completely dissolves. In the Fidgety propriety of the Ladies of London, and their complete obsession with Keeping Up Appearances, I see the importance of our own reputations today, and how hard we all work to keep them up. I see the distance between our own public and private selves; our obsession with brands, logos, tags. The endless chatter of Facebook and Twitter, and how we measure ourselves up to the Zeitgeist it shows us. The distance between our good intentions and our confused actions.

In the end, call it intention or action, public or private; call it town or country, rich or poor. Call it what you like. But for heavens sake call it something, mean the opposite, wink while you say it, and stamp it on a Commemorative Coffee Mug to sell to the highest bidder.

Then join us at Broad Street Ministry on Monday, February 11.

7 pm.

It’s free.

We’ll save you a seat.

-Krista Apple, Director, THE COUNTRY WIFE

Picture
3 Comments
Lawrence F. Bryce
2/1/2013 05:20:20 am

First learned about PAC when I went to "The Alchemist." As a (long ago) English major, I can't believe I'm actually seeing these plays performed, and performed well! Please let everyone know how appreciative I am.

Reply
Paula Turner
2/8/2013 12:32:32 am

Great analysis, Krista - really enlightening. Break a leg!

Reply
get instagram likes fast link
5/7/2014 07:02:23 pm

Likes substantially strengthen the recognition of the world wide web page and using the correct variety count; many people will probably be captivated to your account. The corporations which offer these specialist solutions, will supply you with non-automated or robotic likes and supply you with reliable Instagram likes. The nice subject relating to this is often that they may be swiftly sent to the account and that means you don't have to go to that substantially. And when you are a organization, growing your Instagram likes will possible be advantageous.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Welcome.

    Thanks for reading the PAC blog, where we share what's happening behind the scenes, what we're thinking about this week, and what classic stories are inspiring us right now.

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Mission
    • Who We Are >
      • Meet the PAC
      • In Memoriam
    • Opportunities
    • Past Productions
  • Season
    • Trouble In Mind
    • Venture Reading Series
    • PAC(demic) Reading Club
    • New Venture Play Festival 20-21 Selections >
      • New Venture Play Festival 20-21 Production Teams
  • Tickets
    • Buy Tickets
    • PAC Pass Membership
  • Support Us
  • Education
  • Artist-in-Residence Program
  • Blog
  • Contact