Must a girl always run back to doe-eyed
feminine subjugation at play's end?
Elizabethan and Restoration comedies often feature a heroine donning male garb in order to obtain their desires. One quarter of all Restoration plays featured 'breeches roles'; Shakespeare had his 'cross gendered comedies'; and Ben Jonson had his assuredly post-modern Epicene: boy playing boy playing girl… Confused?
Gull will be a modern investigation of the battlefield that is sex and gender during the Restoration period. Set against a plague ravaged London, two out of work actors decide to gate crash the leading conservative of the day, decked out in full drag. But The Earl has his own party planned for the night and the plague is sweeping ever closer to the door.
Gull explores London in a time of flux, where women took to the stage for the first time, boy-players had to hang up their dresses, the newly restored monarchy celebrated licentious art and sex reigned supreme. I can’t wait to dig deep into the age old battle of liberalism versus conservatism.
And maybe my heroine can even keep her pants at play’s end.
RICK VIEDE
Rick Viede is a writer and performer. He won the 2008 Griffin Award for his debut play Whore, which was performed at Belvoir St B Sharp and the New York Summer Play Festival. He was an Affiliate Playwright with Griffin Theatre Company working on two commissions: Autumn and Poised. He has been shortlisted for numerous awards and won the Shaw Prize for essays.
Rick also created the satiric character of Glace Chase that has played to critical acclaim throughout Australia including seasons at Belvoir St Downstairs Theatre, Melbourne Comedy Festival, Mardi Gras Festival, The Butterfly Club and Feast Festival. He holds a B.A. from Monash University and is currently completing a Grad. Dip. in Screenwriting at AFTRS.
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