Golden Girls (play)

Last updated

Golden Girls
Written by Louise Page
Date premiered20 June 1984
Place premiered The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon
Original languageEnglish
Setting
  • England
  • Athens

Golden Girls is a 1984 play by Louise Page that was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and was first performed at The Other Place, premiering on 20 June 1984, directed by Barry Kyle. Although Page's writing received a mixed critical reception, Kyle's direction was generally praised, and Josette Simon's performance as Dorcas Ableman was acclaimed. The play addresses numerous themes including unfair treatment of women in sport, the difficulties of balancing a personal life with being an elite sportsperson, racism in advertising, and the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport.

Contents

Plot

The British national women's hundred-metres relay team is currently training for an international event in Athens, with their coach and medical staff on hand. The team is sponsored by a cosmetics firm seeking to boost its sales. To enhance performance, the team doctor informs the athletes that they are being administered a new, undetectable fortifying drug, Hydromel. However, on the day of the event, the most ambitious of the athletes, Dorcas, decides to exceed the prescribed dose and is subsequently caught. Although the team wins the race, a scandal erupts. Dorcas receives a lifetime ban, but her ambition continues to haunt her. [1]

Cast and characters

Kenneth Branagh (pictured in 2009) played Mike Bassett KennethBranaghJuly09.jpg
Kenneth Branagh (pictured in 2009) played Mike Bassett
Cast and characters of Golden Girls
CharacterDescriptionOriginal cast [lower-alpha 1] [2] London cast [3]
Dorcas Ablemanblack athlete Josette Simon Josette Simon
Muriel Farrblack athlete Alphonsia Emmanuel Alphonsia Emmanuel
Pauline Petersonwhite athlete Katharine Rogers Katharine Rogers
Sue Kinderblonde white athlete Kate Buffery Sarah Berger
Janet Morrisblack athlete Cathy Tyson Cathy Tyson
Mike Bassettwhite athlete Kenneth Branagh Martin Jacobs
Laces Mackenziecoach Jimmy Yuill Jimmy Yuill
Vivien BlackwooddoctorJennifer PierceyJennifer Piercey
Noël KinderSue Kinder's fatherGeorge RaistrickGeorge Raistrick
Hilary Davenportsponsor Polly James Polly James
Tom BillbowjournalistDerek CreweDerek Crewe
Hotel porterwhiteNorman HenryNorman Henry
The golden girleverything the name suggestsJan RevereJan Revere

History

Background and development

Golden Girls was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). [4] Author Louise Page later reflected that writing Golden Girls, with a cast twice the size of what she had previously written, "was quite difficult ... I sort of assumed it was going to be half the number of lines for twice the number of people – but it does not work that way at all! And I had to learn to write exit lines. One of the problems with having a lot of characters on stage is how you get them off again." [5] Kenneth Branagh wrote in his autobiography that before the script was available, as many of eight of his fellow cast members were under the impression that they were playing the lead. [6] He recalled that on the first day of rehearsals, the script had still not arrived, and as rehearsals progressed, "Louis's re-writes were arriving very slowly, and everyone was desperately throwing their weight around and implying that they might leave at any moment. The actors felt betrayed, Louise felt persecuted, and [director] Barry. I'm sure, felt both". [7] Branagh and castmate Jimmy Yuill trained with RSC member and fitness enthusiast Brian Blessed as part of their preparation for roles as athletes, while the actresses playing athletes took sprint training. [8] Despite his concerns about the preparation and his own performance, Branagh considered that the first run of performances were successful, and pleased the audiences. [7]

The central role of the Black runner Dorcas Ableman drew on Simon's own experience of being an athlete; Page later related that the play had been rewritten from an ensemble piece, as "the sheer dynamism Josette brought to the role meant that it was her journey through the play with which the audience identified". [9] The play helped establish Page's reputation as a playwright. [10]

Productions

Golden Girls was first staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company at The Other Place, directed by Barry Kyle, premiering on 20 June 1984. [2] Kit Surrey was the designer, costumes were by Allan Watkins, music was by Ilona Sekacz, and lighting was by Wayne Dowdeswell. [11] The same cast performed the play at the Gulbenkian Studio, Newcastle-upon-Tyne from 18 to 23 March 1985, [12] [13] and it transferred, with some cast changes, to The Pit in London, where it played from 29 April to 10 September. [2] [3] [14]

A version amended by Page was presented at the Leeds Playhouse concurrently with the RSC's London run. [15] Later that year, the Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich staged a production. [16] A two-part radio adaptation, written by Page, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 1986. [17] It was directed by Vanessa Whitburn and included Angela Wynter as Dorcas, Terry Molloy as Bassett, and Berger, Emmanuel and Yuill reprising their roles from the stage versions. [17] [2] [3]

Theatre Calgary presented the play in 1986. [18] Later productions have included those at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry (1986), [19] Perth (1989), [20] The Lilian Baylis Theatre, London (1992), [21] and the Mercury Theatre, Colchester (1996), [22] The play had its American premiere in 1987 with the South Coast Repertory's production. [23]

Themes

Page commented that she wanted to write a play about the "politics of sport" and that Golden Girls was "about desire and ambition and the ambition to be absolutely the best." [24] Like her other plays of the early 1980s, Golden Girls was critical of the UK's class system, favouring Socialist values in opposition to the materialistic values of Thatcherism. [10] The play can be regarded as a comedy, as it uses irony while lacking traditional comic themes. [25]

Themes of the play include the unfair treatment of women in sport, the difficulties of balancing a personal life with being an elite sportsperson, racism in advertising, the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport, and sport psychology. [26] [27] When the sponsor's representative declares that the team should be mainly white, "the resulting dialogue evokes the anti-Apartheid mood of the time, which saw South African teams banned from international competitions." [10]

Reception

Page's writing of Golden Girls received a mixed critical reception, while the response to Kyle's direction was largely positive. [4] The Daily Telegraph critic Eric Shorter praised the cast's efforts but felt that the play suffered from overly slow pacing, [28] while Mel Gussow of The New York Times wrote that "the play has intelligence and momentum" [29]

Sheridan Morley of Punch , The Mail on Sunday 's Nicholas de Jongh, and Gussow commended the interplay of multiple themes; [4] [30] but Ros Asquith in The Observer [31] Jim Hiley of The Listener and Anne McFerran of Time Out disagreed, complaining that there were too many strands in the play. [4] [30]

Starring as Dorcas Ableman was a breakthrough role for Josette Simon. [32] [9] Her performance was "unanimously praised" according to the literature scholar Kurt Eisen; [4] she won the Plays & Players magazine award for best actress [33] The Financial Times reviewer Michael Coveney wrote that "The immense power and beauty of this actress is at last given proper opportunity by the RSC." [34] Ros Asquith of The Observer felt that Simon's performance was among the most thrilling in London. [35]

Notes

  1. ↑ At The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon; and Gulbenkian Studio, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Related Research Articles

<i>The Winters Tale</i> Play by Shakespeare

The Winter's Tale is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some critics consider it to be one of Shakespeare's "problem plays" because the first three acts are filled with intense psychological drama, while the last two acts are comic and supply a happy ending.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Branagh</span> British actor and filmmaker (born 1960)

Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Berkshire, Branagh trained at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and served as its president from 2015 to 2024. His accolades include an Academy Award, four BAFTAs, two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Olivier Award. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2012 Birthday Honours, and was given Freedom of the City in his native Belfast in 2018. In 2020, he was ranked in 20th place on The Irish Times' list of Ireland's greatest film actors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Shakespeare Company</span> British theatre company

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratford-upon-Avon, and on tour across the UK and internationally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derek Jacobi</span> English actor (born 1938)

Sir Derek George Jacobi is an English actor. Jacobi is known for his work at the Royal National Theatre and for his film and television roles. He has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, two Olivier Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Tony Award. He was given a knighthood for his services to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.

Sir Trevor Robert Nunn is an English theatre director. He has been the artistic director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal Haymarket. He has directed dramas for the stage, like Macbeth, as well as opera and musicals, such as Cats (1981) and Les Misérables (1985).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Stephens</span> English actor (1931–1995)

Sir Robert Graham Stephens was a leading English actor in the early years of Britain's Royal National Theatre. He was one of the most respected actors of his generation and was at one time regarded as the natural successor to Laurence Olivier.

Amanda Root is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her starring role as Anne Elliot in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Persuasion. A familiar face on both stage and screen, she worked regularly with the Royal Shakespeare Company during her early career, performing as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, among other roles. In 2009, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as Sarah in Alan Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Fearon</span> English actor (active 1994–present)

Raymond Fearon is an English actor. He played garage mechanic Nathan Cooper on ITV's long-running soap opera Coronation Street and voiced the centaur Firenze in the Wizarding World film series Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alun Armstrong</span> English actor

Alan Armstrong, known professionally as Alun Armstrong, is an English character actor. He grew up in County Durham in North East England, and first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his grammar school. Since his career began in the early 1970s, he has played, in his words, "the full spectrum of characters from the grotesque to musicals... I always play very colourful characters, often a bit crazy, despotic, psychotic".

Josette Patricia Simon is a British actor. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and played the part of Dayna Mellanby in the third and fourth series of the television sci-fi series Blake's 7 from 1980 to 1981. On stage, she has appeared in Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) productions from 1982, playing Ariel in The Tempest, to 2018 when she was Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra. The first black woman in an RSC play when she featured in 1982, Simon has been at the forefront of colour-blind casting, playing roles traditionally taken by white actors, including Maggie, a character that is thought to be based on Marilyn Monroe, in Arthur Miller's After the Fall at the National Theatre in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Johnson (actor)</span> British actor (1927-2015)

Richard Keith Johnson was an English stage and screen actor, writer and producer. Described by Michael Coveney as "a very 'still' actor – authoritative, calm and compelling," he was a staple performer in British films and television from the 1960s until the 2010s, often playing urbane sophisticates and authoritative characters. He had a distinguished theatrical career, notably as a cornerstone member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and was once acclaimed as "the finest romantic actor of his generation."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Carlisle (actor)</span> English actor (1935–2011)

John Carlisle was an English television and stage actor.

Marilyn J. "Lynn" Farleigh is an English actress of stage and screen.

Julia Hills is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Rona in all eight series of the BBC sitcom 2point4 Children. She also portrayed various roles in Channel 4's first late night satirical sketch show Who Dares Wins, Beryl in two series of the sitcom Dad and Caroline Joyner in Casualty.

<i>The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby</i> (play) Adaptation of Charles Dickens novel

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby is an 8½ hour-long adaptation of Charles Dickens’ 1839 novel, performed in two parts. Part 1 was 4 hours in length with one interval of 15 minutes. Part 2 was 4½ hours in length with two intervals of 12 minutes. It was originally presented onstage over two evenings, or in its entirety from early afternoon with a dinner break. Later it was presented on television over four evenings.

Barry Albert Kyle is an English theatre director, currently Honorary Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, England.

Emily Richard is a British actress and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Alphonsia Emmanuel is a British actress known for her appearances in House of Cards, Under Suspicion (1991), Peter's Friends (1992) and Still Crazy (1998), among other films. She was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Daniels (director)</span> Theatre and opera director

Ron Daniels is a theatre and opera director. He is an Honorary Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company; former Artistic Director of The Other Place, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon; former Associate Artistic Director of the American Repertory Theatre (ART), Cambridge, Massachusetts; and former Head of Acting and Directing Programs of the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University. He is also a founding member of the Teatro Oficina, São Paulo, in his native Brazil.

References

  1. ↑ Sakellaridou 2009
  2. 1 2 3 4 Page 1985, p. Cast list.
  3. 1 2 3 "RSC Performances: Golden Girls". Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Eisen 1996, p. 294.
  5. ↑ Page 1990, p. 175.
  6. ↑ Branagh 1991, p. 152.
  7. 1 2 Branagh 1991, p. 153.
  8. ↑ Branagh 1991, pp. 152–153.
  9. 1 2 Richards 1993, p. 247.
  10. 1 2 3 Naffis-Sahely, André (2010). "Louise Page". British Council Literature. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  11. ↑ "Theatre Week". the Stage. 14 June 1984. p. 7.
  12. ↑ "RSC Performances: Golden Girls". Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  13. ↑ Isaacs, David (19 March 1985). "First prize for these runners". Newcastle Journal. p. 3.
  14. ↑ Herbert 1986, p. 24.
  15. ↑ Reyner, R.L. (23 May 1985). "Bending the rules". The Stage. p. 15.
  16. ↑ "Girls going all out for gold". The Stage. 7 November 1985. p. 8.
  17. 1 2 "The Afternoon Play: Golden Girls: Part 1". BBC Programme Index. 3 May 1986. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  18. ↑ Zimmerman, Kate (23 April 1986). "TC plans contemporary season". Calgary Herald. p. D6 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ FitzGerald, Anne (30 October 1986). "Bright girls run away with the gold medals". The Stage. p. 23.
  20. ↑ Fulton, Graham (13 April 1989). "Perth: Golden Girls". The Stage. p. 15.
  21. ↑ "Theatre Week". The Stage. 9 July 1992. p. 10.
  22. ↑ Mullen, Liz (2 May 1996). "Colchester: Golden Girls". The Stage. p. 14.
  23. ↑ Wong, Herman (16 July 1987). "South Coast rep to premiere two plays". Los Angeles Times. p. VI.7 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ de Jongh, Nicholas (4 May 1984). "Golden girl". The Guardian. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ Öğütcü 2019, p. 872.
  26. ↑ Bartleet 2021, p. 375.
  27. ↑ Öğütcü 2019, p. 871.
  28. ↑ Shorter, Eric (22 June 1984). "Athletics at a jog". The Daily Telegraph. p. 13. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  29. ↑ Gussow, Mel (12 August 1984). "Stratford keeps its kingly standards". The New York Times. p. 2.5. Archived from the original on 17 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  30. 1 2 Herbert, Ian, ed. (24 April 1984). "Golden Girls". London Theatre Record. pp. 397–399.
  31. ↑ Asquith, Ros (12 May 1985). "Short back and throat". The Observer. p. 17.
  32. ↑ Rogers 2022, chapter "Rosaline, RSC, 1984", search phrase "Dorcas Ableman".
  33. ↑ "Josette Simon". BBA Shakespeare. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  34. ↑ Coveney, Michael (21 June 1984). "The Arts: Golden Girls/The Other Place". Financial Times. p. 23.
  35. ↑ Asquith, Ros (12 May 1985). "Short back and throat". The Observer. p. 17. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2024.

Books

Journal articles

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.