About the play
When a young maiden who has never touched a sword learns she must defend her inheritance in a duel, she struggles with a milksop suitor, a servant girl posing as a Prussian fencing master, the actual Prussian fencing master who believes he is there to marry her, a stodgy lord, and her domineering aunt–the finest blade anywhere–to save her house and lands.
The play was written for the 2017/2018 Joining Sword and Pen Competition, and was premiered by Chicago's Babes With Blades Theatre Company. It's a classic farce, set in the mid-1700's, with lots of swordplay, a servant girl posing as a Prussian fencing master who doesn't speak English, the actual Prussian Fencing master who gets mistaken for a servant, a young woman who must defend her inheritance, a conniving suitor and, front and center, Duchess Theodosia Pepperston, the finest blade anywhere!
READ ACT ONE.
Cast 5f, 2m
- DUCHESS THEODOSIA PEPPERSTON
Trothe's aunt, the finest blade anywhere.
- TROTHE PEPPERSTON
A lass of fifteen. Trothe rhymes with 'trophy'.
- TILLY
A servant, somewhat junior to Penelope. Lower class accent.
- PENELOPE
A servant - lower class accent.
- LORD ABERNATHY
An older gentleman.
- OSRIC
A poet, about twenty.
- LUITGER/ELEONORE
Speaks only German. She passes as male for much of the play.
Setting
ACT ONE
Pepperston Hall
ACT TWO
The Grounds of Pepperston Hall
TIME
1752
ACT ONE
Pepperston Hall
ACT TWO
The Grounds of Pepperston Hall
TIME
1752
Why this play?
From the playwright, Arthur M. Jolly.
"I wrote this play for many reasons - I wanted to write a true farce, and I wanted to see a coming-of-age story for a young girl that was shown through physical prowess. It began with the final scene; I sat down and wondered what fight scene I had never witnessed on stage. This was a play for the Babes With Blades Theatre Company, and I wanted to give them something truly original to stage. I considered a "fight in the dark", and did indeed include one, although that has been a staple of Chinese Opera for centuries, but then I had my inspiration: A duel where both parties were trying to LOSE the fight. Neither could know the other was trying to lose, neither could reveal they needed to lose the match, and the stakes had to be dramatic and serious... it would be an anti-fight. I wrote that scene first, and then spent weeks plotting the rest of the play to make that duel make sense... and it worked!"Awards and Productions
"A fierce, feminist farce. It is a commentary on the inherent, yet consistently overlooked, power of womxn... a 2 hour soundscape of belly laughter, metal on metal, and whatever the sound of pure heckin joy is."Emily Modaff
Hooligan Magazine