I was originally planning to update this blog a little more often with some well thought out posts, but I recently found my time completely being taken up by our theater department.
The Rover is written by Aphra Behn, England's first female playwright. The play was originally set in 1600’s Europe, but its setting was recently updated to 1870 New Orleans. It follows two sisters, Florinda and Hellena, who come from a wealthy family and, surprise surprise, want to find love their own way. Meanwhile, Willmore, the titular Rover, roves into town and just wants to sleep with any girl he sees. And then there’s Angelica, the high-class courtesan who has decided to settle down and marry whichever man will pay her $1000 per month. Along the way, there’s swordfights, singing, and dancing.
I originally signed on as an extra because they needed more fighters, and I sure do love fighting. Well, eventually one of the primary cast dropped out, so I had to step up and fill the role of Don Pedro with 3 weeks to show time. Don Pedro is the brother of Florinda and Hellena, so he spends most of the play trying to stop them from ever falling in love or having sex (because their virginity was pretty much the most important thing back then). He is also one of Angelica’s suitors. Pretty early on, Don Antonio, the guy Pedro hooks Florinda up with, instead decides he wants to marry Angelica, simultaneously stealing her from Pedro and rejecting Florinda. I end up trying to stab a him a few times by play’s end. Also I wear this totally awesome jacket because I'm about the richest guy in town.
And that’s when I started being busy all the time.
So if you’re in the LA area next week, come see it. Our talent is of variable quality, but our lead actor is very entertaining and the rest of the primary cast is pretty adequate.
