The Event

The Event:

In February of 2019, we hosted a rehearsal workshop at the Robert Gill Theatre at the University of Toronto. Held roughly mid-way through the rehearsal period (23 February, 26 days before production preview), the workshop was intended to share our work in progress, the discoveries we had made about the text so far, and invite scholars and the public to provide feedback on the show-in-development to try out new ideas around central thematic questions raised by Marston’s play.

Throughout the day, scholars, actors, and supporters of PLS worked collaboratively to test out a variety of approaches to The Dutch Courtesan. We worked through a cut-down version of the script, focusing particularly on scenes with Beatrice and Franceschina, the play’s chaste wife and unruly Courtesan figures, and the English prankster Cockledemoy’s tricks on the Mulligrubs – The Dutch Courtesan’s foreign tavern keepers who are associated with Dutchness via their connection to the radical religious sect, the Family of Love. In the evening, we presented a free, staged reading of the abridged script for our workshop participants and members of the public, followed by a discussion with the audience of the play’s themes and its relevance to contemporary Toronto.

See our original Event Page