Those entering the Robert Gill Theatre expecting a reprieve from the winter should be forewarned: though the blistering winds are mere soundtrack, the dull winter sheen a trick of the lights, and the suffocating snowdrifts just painted panels, the indoor winter created by the Graduate Centre for Study of Drama is far more chilling than the one outdoors.
Still, those willing to brave the harsh winters of rural North America will be amply rewarded. The two one-act plays, written by two trail-blazing female playwrights, explore the struggles women faced in the early decades of the twentieth century and the tragic forces that compelled them into action.
In the first play of the evening, Still Stands the House, a mentally unstable woman enlists a blizzard to carry out a desperate act. In the second, Trifles, frigid winter encroaches on a farmhouse as three men investigate a murder, while two women work to cover up its perpetrator.
Director Amanda Lockitch had her sights set on Trifles ever since reading it as an undergrad at UBC. Now a second-year PhD student studying Drama at U of T, she chose the play, written in 1914 by American playwright Susan Glaspell, partly because of its depiction of female solidarity in the face of social, political, and economic vulnerability. In the play, an unseen woman is suspected of murdering her husband. As men investigate the crime scene, two of their wives, sympathetic to the woman’s motive, surreptitiously undermine the investigation.
Lydia Wilkinson directs Still Stands the House, another way-back play, this one written in 1939 by Gwen Pharis Ringwood. Also a second-year PhD student, Wilkinson took an interest in Ringwood, one of the earliest female Canadian playwrights, and was struck by her play’s theme of grief and the paralyzing effect of letting it go unresolved.
Unlike Trifles, House depicts female discord. The aggrieved Hester Warren is deeply attached to her desolate family home but must contend with her pregnant sister-in-law, who is pressuring Hester’s brother to sell the house. When he finally agrees, Hester’s desperation erupts in a horrifying act.
While the story’s parallels stand out on their own, Lockitch and Wilkinson collaborated on the set and costume design, lighting, and sound in order to achieve a sense of unity between the two works. After auditioning over 30 people, they narrowed it down to a cast of seven between the two plays, including three U of T drama students. In this gig, the kind where the only payment is a free drink at the reception, the cast and crew are truly in it for the love of theatre. Lockitch and Wilkinson finished their program’s required practical hours long ago and mounted this production for pure enjoyment-or in Lockitch’s words, to preserve her sanity.
Despite the dominating presence of four headstrong female characters, Lockitch and Wilkinson are quick to stress that these stories are not aggressively feminist texts. They chose these plays to showcase two under-recognized female playwrights and to dispel the notion that turn-of-the-century female authors were all message-heavy suffragettes. The rich material speaks for itself, and gripping themes of madness, subversion, and empowerment are sure to appeal to the minds of men and women alike.
Still Stands the House and Trifles run at the Robert Gill Theatre Jan. 25-Feb. 4.
