Playhouse Creatures

By April de Angelis

University of Oregon Hope Theatre

April 2011

Directed by Brian Cook
Scenic Design by Frani Geiger
Costume Design by Gina Love
Lighting Design and Technical Direction by Janet Rose
Stage Management by Heidi Knight-Meigs

CAST
Doll Common: Jennifer Balestracci
Nell Gwyn: Jesselyn Parks
Mrs. Mary Betterton: Virginia Rice
Mrs. Elizabeth Farley: Katelyn Elias
Mrs. Rebecca Marshall: Evylyn Brown
Mrs. Elizabeth Barry: Megan Matthews
Thomas Otway: Karl Metz
John Wilmot, the 2nd Earl of Rochester: Philip Morton

In 1660, Charles II returned to the throne and decrees that women would—for the first time—be allowed to perform on the English stage. The King and many others turned out in droves to see the newest young beauties, often with the hope of taking one home. Playhouse Creatures explores the lives of some of these actresses, including the incredibly famous Nell Gwyn. As they take their turns in the spotlight, some of them go from “it-girl ingenue” to “used up” as soon as the next “it-girl” comes along. The play is a vivacious account of the fight these women faced to be seen as legitimate actors.

Doll Common remembers.

The barmaid, Nell Gwyn, demands that the Earl of Rochester behave.

Nell reassures Elizabeth Farley that she'll survive her financial woes.

The Earl and Thomas Otway drink.

At the playhouse, the Amazons (played by Mrs. Betterton and Mrs. Marshall) weep for their fallen mistress, played by Mrs. Farley, who has become an actress.

Mrs. Farley as Penthisilea.

Doll revels in her memories.

Mrs. Betterton, as Cleopatra, is dressed for her death scene.

In the tiring room, Mrs. Marshall undresses.

The muses three.

Mrs. Farley is quite content as an actress...

...until Nell talks her way onto the stage.

Mrs. Betterton teaches Nell the correct way to act.

Mrs. Marshall is defiled by men who dislike her outspoken ways.

Nell recalls her first time on stage.


Mrs. Marshall prepares to enact her revenge.

To help Mrs. Marshall, the women re-enact the witch scene from Macbeth.

Mrs. Elizabeth Barry desperately desires to become an actress.

Nell and Mrs. Marshall perform a swordfight in breeches. The men in the audience love it.

Otway brings a script he's written to the company, but Mrs. Betterton doesn't care much for it.


Nell doesn't like it either, and she gives him some advice on how to improve it.

She tells him the audience loves it when she shows her breasts.

Rochester offers to teach Mrs. Barry to act.

After she's spurned by her former lover, the King, Mrs. Farley becomes pregnant.

She's put out on the street and forced to beg.

Meanwhile, Nell becomes one of the most famous actresses in England, and the King's new consort.

Having become "too old," her husband tells Mrs. Betterton that she's no longer welcome at the theatre.

Doll drinks to cope with the loss of her friend, Mrs. Betterton.

Mrs. Marshall and Nell, the only two remaining actresses, are granted shares in the company. But word leaks of Mrs. Marshall's witchcraft, and she's forced to flee.