Angélique (play)
| Angélique | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Lorena Gale |
| Characters |
|
| Place premiered | Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary, Alberta |
| Subject | Marie-Joseph Angelique |
| Setting | Montreal, 1730s and present |
Angélique is a Canadian play by Lorena Gale inspired by the executed slave Marie-Joseph Angelique. It premiered in 1998 with Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary, Alberta. Angélique's off-broadway premiere in 1999 garnered eight Audelco Award nominations.
Development[edit]
A work-in-progress version of Angélique was presented on January 29, 1995 as a staged reading at Women in View Festival in Vancouver. It was directed by Brenda Leadlay and featured the playwright as Angélique.[1] The 1995 text won the duMaurier National Playwriting Competition.[2]
The play is a fictionalized accounted of Marie-Joseph Angélique, a slave who was executed in 1734 in Montreal, then part of New France, for arson.[3]
Plot summary[edit]
The play begins as a young female slave arrives in Montreal from Madiere, Portugal.[4] She is purchased by François Poulin de Franchville for his wife, Thérèse de Couagne, who attests she does not want a slave. Thérèse and François name her Marie-Josèphe Angélique after their dead child. François forces Angélique to have sex with him.[5] At the encouragement of Ignace, Angélique is paired with Caesar, another slave, for breeding.[6] She gives birth to several children, though it is unclear if they are Caesar's or François'. Meanwhile, Angélique begins a romantic relationship with Claude, a white indentured servant.
François dies and Thérèse makes plans to sell Angèlique. Angélique, discovering she is about to be sold, plans to run away to America with Claude. While the two are leaving, a fire breaks out. It is never made clear who set it. On their journey to America, Claude abandons Angèlique, who is later apprehended on suspicion of starting the fire. She is tortured into confessing to starting the fire and is subsequently executed.
Characters[edit]
- Marie-Josèphe Angélique
- François Poulin de Franchville, a wealthy iron works owner
- Thérèse de Couagne, wife to François
- Claude Thibault, an indentured servant
- Ignace Gamelin, business partner of François
- César, Ignace's slave
- Manon, an Aboriginal slave
- Reporter
- Margeurite
- Hypolite
- Marie Louise
- Marie Josephe
- Jean Josephe
- François de Beray
Production history[edit]
Angélique premiered in 1998 at the playRites festival at Alberta Theatre Projects in Calgary.[7]
In 1999, the play had its American premiere at the Detroit Repertory Theatre in Detroit, Michigan.[2] That same year, it was produced in New York, off-Broadway at the Manhattan Class Company Theatre. In New York, it was nominated for eight Audelco Awards.[8] This production was directed by Derek Anson Jones and starred Lisa Gay Hamilton, who understudied the role until Patrice Johnson, the show's original Angèlique, departed mere days before the show.[9]
Angélique was first published in February 2000 by Playwrights Canada Press.[10]
In 2017, Tableau D'Hôte Theatre and Black Theatre Workshop co-produced Angélique at The Studio at the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts in Montreal.[11] The performance, the play's Quebec premiere, was staged to celebrate Montreal’s 375th anniversary.[12] Jenny Brizard played Angélique under the direction of Mike Payette.[13] Two years later, this production toured Ontario including at Factory Theatre[14] and the National Arts Centre.[15]
Awards and nominations[edit]
| Year | Award | Category | Notes | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Betty Mitchell Awards | Outstanding New Play | Nominated | [16] | |
| 1999 | Audelco Awards | Production of the year | Nominated | [17] | |
| Lead actress | for Patrice Johnson | Nominated | |||
| Supporting Actress | for Patricia Nyberg | Nominated | |||
| Director/Dramatic Production | for Derek Anson Jones | Nominated | |||
| Sound Design | for Robert Murphy | Nominated | |||
| Costume Design | for Marion Williams | Nominated | |||
| Set Design | for Myung Hee Cho | Nominated | |||
| Lighting Design | for Michael Chybowski | Nominated | |||
| 2017 | Montreal English Theatre Awards | Outstanding Professional (PACT) Theatre Production | Won | [18] | |
| Outstanding Contribution to the Theatre | for the SIXTRUM Percussion Ensemble | Won | |||
| Outstanding Lead Actress | for Jenny Brizard | Nominated | [19] | ||
| Outstanding Supporting Actor | for Tristan D. Lalla, Olivier Lamarche, Karl Graboshas | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Direction | for Mike Payette | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Sound Design | for SIXTRUM Percussion Ensemble | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Set Design | for Eo Sharp | Nominated |
Analysis[edit]
In contrast to Lorris Elliott's and Paul Fehmiu Brown's fictionalizations of Marie-Josèphe Angélique, Gale avoids presenting her as a martyr and presents her, instead, as a seditious rebel.[2]
Angélique blurs the line between history and the present through its use of both modern dress and period clothing as well as through lines that would be anachronistic to the original setting.[5][20]
References[edit]
- ^ Gale, Lorena (1995). "Writing "Angelique" (Includes excerpt)". Canadian Theatre Review (83): 20–23. doi:10.3138/ctr.83.005. ISSN 0315-0836. S2CID 259495416. ProQuest 211995628 – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b c Clarke, George E. (2002). "Raising raced and erased executions in African-Canadian literature: or, unearthing Angelique". Essays on Canadian Writing (75): 30–61 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Keleta-Mae, Naila (2016). "Performance as Reappearance: Female Blackness in History and Thetare". In Freeman, Barry; Kathleen, Gallagher (eds.). In Defence of Theatre : Aesthetic Practices and Social Interventions. p. 129.
- ^ Garebian, Keith (2004-02-19). "Angelique". Quill and Quire. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
- ^ a b Dugalin, Istvan (2019-04-06). "Review: ANGÉLIQUE (Obsidian and Factory Theatre)". www.mooneyontheatre.com. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
- ^ Toben, Byron (2017-03-23). "Angelique's Tragic Tale of Resilience". Westmount Magazine. Retrieved 2021-11-01.
- ^ Nestruck, J. Kelly (2019-04-08). "Review: Angélique's Toronto debut shows how Lorena Gale's drama was ahead of its time". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- ^ Gale, Lorena (2002). Angélique. Playwrights Canada Press. p. 73.
- ^ Gluck, Victor (1999-07-16). "Theatre Reviews: Angelique". Backstage. 40 (28) – via EBSCOHost.
- ^ Garebian, Keith (March 2000). "Angélique". Quill and Quire. 66 (3): 63 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Noble-Marks, Eric (2017-03-30). "Play review: 'Angélique' demands that Canada confront a painful past". The McGill Tribune. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- ^ Nesbitt, Pauline (2017-03-21). "Angélique: This is not another slave story". The Concordian. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- ^ Burke, Jim (2017-03-17). "Theatre review: Montreal burns in slave tragedy Angélique, smoulders in sex comedy Honesty Rents by the Hour". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- ^ Fricker, Karen (2019-04-07). "Risks pay off, mostly, in slave's tale". Toronto Star. p. E2 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Abma, Sandra (2019-03-22). "Put poetry and plays on the agenda for the weekend". CBC. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
- ^ Ackerman, Marianne (2019-03-30). "Angélique's Triple Crown". Montreal Rampage. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
- ^ Lefkowitz, David (1999-11-19). "OOB's Safreeta Mae Wins Six Audelco Awards". Playbill. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
- ^ Burke, Jim (2017-10-24). "No clear winners as theatre companies share META glory". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
- ^ "Mandate". Tableau D'Hôte Theatre. Retrieved 2021-10-27.
- ^ Saxberg, Lynn (2019-03-24). "Theatre review: Montreal production of Angelique engrossing, inventive". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 2021-11-01.