Humorous Magistrate
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17th century play comes to life
The team has been investigating an anonymous, undated 17th-century manuscript held in U of C’s Special Collections. Purchased in 1972 from bookseller Edgar Osborne, the five-act comedy satirizes the incompetent, corrupt and hilarious justice of the peace Thrifty. The team has made several key discoveries, including the existence of an earlier draft of the play, also anonymous, at Arbury Hall in Warwickshire, England. “We were astounded,” says Polito. “Manuscripts of dramas from the Shakespearean period are very rare and the survival of two manuscript versions of the same play is even more rare. With these versions, we’re able to understand more about early modern dramatists’ writing processes, how performances derived from texts and how revisions have been informed by rehearsals and performances.” Continuing efforts to date the manuscripts—following clues from handwriting, watermarks and references to coins, fashions and political events—has led the team to conclude the Arbury version was written after 1632 and the U of C version was revised after May 1640. “The U of C production of The Humorous Magistrate will be the first full-stage production of the play in nearly 400 years,” says Polito. It opens Feb. 16 at the University Theatre and runs to Feb. 27. For more information, go to www.ucalgary.ca/finearts. And as for the mystery of the play’s author? “We’re getting there,” says Polito. “Some evidence points to John Newdigate of Arbury Hall. Whoever it was definitely went to the London theatre and was a fan of Shakespeare and later comic writers.” When The Humorous Magistrate opens next week, the team will have the opportunity to see how their research translates to the stage. “Producing a play requires two kinds of research,” says Patrick Finn, director of The Humorous Magistrate and an adjunct associate professor of drama and communication and culture. “The first involves social, political, cultural and literary analysis of the text. The second is the testing of our hypotheses in performance. In theatre, our laboratory is the stage and our research must be tested, retested and analyzed through live performance.” “We’re looking forward to learning a lot from seeing the play brought to life on stage,” says Polito. “The way it unfolds will help us understand the actual material conditions under which The Humorous Magistrate was likely played.” For more information on The Humorous Magistrate manuscript research: https://breeze.ucalgary.ca/osborne. Concurrent exhibitions relating to The Humorous Magistrate:
Watch UToday this week for more stories about the staging of The Humorous Magistrate. |
February 8, 2010
