University of Guelph Mainstage presents play by Ann Marie MacDonald
Last week, the School of English and Theatre Studies staged an existential crisis that changed the way I watch Shakespeare.
Students from production and performance classes brought to life the play Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) by Ann Marie MacDonald.
Although the title would imply that some knowledge of Shakespeare’s Othello and Romeo and Juliet would be necessary, that was not the case. Kennedy Thompson, who played the main character, Constance Ledbelly, and cast made the audience laugh until we had to squeeze our knees together.
The play snatches the protagonist, Constance, and places her in the world of Shakespeare. Before she was the protagonist, she was an assistant professor at Queens University. All the tri-colour in the world could not help her gain a better station in her career or within the heart of the professor she worked for. Very quickly, it’s made clear that this is not the world that the Bard of Avon created. For comparison, the play shows the same events multiple times, once through a traditional lens and then through the mind of Constance. With her interpretation comes the quirky and emotional projection of her own thoughts and feelings. Desdemona, who was brought to life by Gracie James, is suddenly more powerful and carries an air of dominance, while originally in Othello, these qualities are nonexistent.
Deftly directed and inspiringly acted, Anne Marie Macdonald’s Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) was brought to hilarious and subtext-heavy life by the University of Guelph’s Mainstage Productions.
This piece embraced the script, but directors Scott Duchesne and Sarah Bannister brought their own additions to the original.
“I think there is a tendency towards farce, we just amped it up,” said Duchesne, one of the co-directors. “My tendency is to… try and find every funny moment that you possibly can. If there is a moment that can be funnier that’s great […].”
If you are a fan of Monty Python and farcical comedy, you could enjoy this play as a rowdy treat even without the humanist subtext. Akin to Shakespeare’s plays, you have the option to opt in to see the greater themes of feminism, sexuality, and duality, or take the laughs at face value and go with it. Unfortunately, this play, because of the added level of farce and antics, makes it less appealing to opt in. Themes are plenty and there is much to critically perceive, but trying to build an understanding of how the play is about personal liberation is difficult when you’re laughing through tears. Alexander Wight was just too funny. Wight should drop out, start his own Python-esque troupe, and call it a day.
Gordon Harper is the real one to worry about in this play. Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) is famed for having only five cast members and 16 characters. Harper, who plays Romeo, Iago, Chorus, and Ghost, succeeds with great zeal by splitting his entirety and augmenting each character. He is practically the horcruxed Lord Voldemort of stage play, all the while balancing buckets of disgusting. Each character stands alone with their own personality and creepy motivations.
None of the antics or office awkwardness would have been possible if it wasn’t for the brilliant set design, props, and costumes. Nearly explosive turtles, accurate timepieces, and a head that appears from a garbage can, were a few effects that brought the show together.
Past all of the comedic fare offered by this production is a story of equality and liberation. In this world, Juliet is a personification of Constance’s own sexual frustration and needs. Juliet was expertly played by Elizabeth Richardson, who delivered the dirtiest jokes from the youngest character. She brought out the true spirit of an almost-14-year-old. Brace yourself, parents, but your young teens talk about sex all the time even if they have no idea what they are talking about. It is this same pent up and juvenile longing that resides inside of Constance. The 37-year-old relativist succumbed to the pressure and was about to hop in bed with Juliet. If that’s wild in Constance’s mind then look out for the continuing Juliet suicide joke. Alas, this was all (suicide jokes excluded) a step towards Constance’s own personal, sexual liberation.
“We started the play with the idea that the entirety of the show is like The Wizard of Oz. Even though it might have happened in my head, still the journey was real to me,” said Thompson, about her portrayal of the character Constance. “All of the characters represented different elements of my subconscious”.
Thompson was able to take Constance and imbue her with qualities of her own person. This equated to a very real and honest representation of Constance. Even when it felt like the comedy was impeding the undertones of play, Thompson shone through with her down to earth character portrayal and quirkiness. Constance is a relatable character; sometimes, all we want to do is finger eat Velveeta and live out our days with our cats, but we must find our own liberation.