Although Gallathea is interesting on its own, I’m personally
really interested in the history of the work. I see it as a link between one of
the most popular plays of the Italian Renaissance and some of the most popular
plays of the English Renaissance.
(Rachel Steed-Redig as Phillida, and Kristin Hall as
Gallathea. Photo by Bridget Farias.)
Torquato Tasso is best known for his poetry and his
insanity. He died only a few days before he was to be crowned “king of the
poets” by the Pope. His poetry is largely forgotten in the English-speaking
world, but his legacy still lives in our collective consciousness. In 1573,
Tasso’s play, Aminta, was performed before the Duke of Ferrara. This pastoral
play is extremely difficult to stage effectively, because much of the dialogue
describes action that occurred offstage. The play features nymphs and satyrs,
Cupid and Venus. If I were to try to describe what the play is about in one
sentence, it would be something along the lines of, “What is the true nature of
love?”
In 1588, John Lyly’s play, Gallathea, was performed before
Queen Elizabeth I by the Children of Paul’s. Gallathea features nymphs, Cupid,
and Venus, and asks the same question. The action of the two plays are
different, and Gallathea is much more English in its approach, since it
features a comic subplot, but the theme, setting, and characters of the two
plays are very similar.
I decided to direct Gallathea for Poor Shadows primarily
because it was the opposite of our last production, Richard II, in many ways
(it’s a comedy, in verse, with many substantial female roles). But possibly the
most rewarding thing for me about digging into this text has been discovering
the echoes of this play in later works by Shakespeare and his contemporaries.
Scholars have compared parts of the play to The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s
Dream, and As You Like It. Parts of this play also call to my mind Romeo and
Juliet (the fathers remind me of Capulet and Montague), Love’s Labour’s Lost
(lovers hiding and listening to another confess their love in a soliloquy), and
Twelfth Night (Toby and Andrew discussing which signs of the zodiac rule which
parts of the body). And obviously, the Alchemist and his boy, and their lists
of spirits and bodies, call to mind Jonson’s play on the subject.
At first blush, Gallathea is very light and not very deep,
but there’s one aspect of the play that I think defies that impression.
(SPOILER ALERT) To escape the curse of Neptune, two young virgins are disguised
by their fathers as boys. The two girls meet in the woods and, each thinking
the other to be a boy, fall in love. In the final scene, when they discover
they’re both girls, the reaction of the bystanders is predictable. But the
reactions of the two girls are surprising. Diana tells them they must “leave
these fond affections,” and Gallathea replies, “I will never love any but
Phillida.” Phillida agrees. “Nor I any but Gallathea.” Their love is based on
something deeper than gender. Although the social order might not approve
(Venus says she’ll change one of them into a boy), neither of the girls cares,
as long as they can be together. It’s the viewpoint of the two girls that I
find so interesting in this play, and I’ve tried to enhance the focus on that
element in our show.
The Early Modern English drama is my area of interest, so,
of course, I find this play really interesting for many reasons. But I think
our show will still be very entertaining for regular, non-nerdy people, too.
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