MRS RUSKIN
a play-in-progress
by Kim Morrissey
DRAFTS
playwright's note: November 25, 2002
I wrote my play Dora : A Case of
Hysteria (London: Nick Hern Books, 1994) in 1985 and then rewrote it,
working with director Steve Gregg (Wheatland Theatre). We used a series of
workshop readings set up by the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre in 1985-86,
over the course of nine months, ending in a staged reading, dramaturged by
Ken Gass. The first professional production of the play was directed
by Steve Gregg at Wheatland Theatre (March 1987). Steve gave me one of the
best pieces of advice for writing satire and black comedy: 'Go for the joke
and let the tragedy take care of itself.' I found the process so satisfying
that I have workshopped my plays the same way ever since. For the Mrs.
Ruskin project, we have scheduled a series of workshops over a year,
working closely with Amy Oliver (Effie Ruskin) and Michael Yale (John Ruskin)
and director Jacqui Somerville, with additional help from the Theatre Metropolis
company of actors. |
history of the project
actors involved in the workshops
(please note: all drafts are protected by copyright)
© Kim Morrissey, 2003-2008, ongoing)
DRAFTS OF MRS RUSKIN 2002 -
2003
first, catch your playwright
DRAFT TWELVE (2008) (refocussing the play on
Mrs. Ruskin)
Draft Eleven (March 2004)
PRODUCTION: Draft Ten. Final changes during production
(September 2003)
PRODUCTION: Draft Nine. Final revisions in rehearsal
(18.08.2003 to 25.08.2003)
Draft Eight (draft at the start of rehearsals)
(18.08.2003)
Draft Seven (17.08.2003)
STAGE FOUR: Draft Six (12.08.2003)
Draft Five workshop (17.06.2003)
STAGE THREE: Draft Four: two day workshop and public
reading (June 2-3 2003)
(7 pm June 3d, 2003 invited reading at Canada House)
Draft Three workshop (23.04.2003)
STAGE TWO: Draft Two workshop (18.02.2003)
STAGE ONE: Draft One (26.11.2002)
BACKGROUND MATERIAL: The
Order of Release
"The Order of Release 1746", oil on canvas, 103 x 74 cm, 1852-1853, Effie
Ruskin (née Gray, later Millais) as model, The Tate Gallery, London
First Step: Amy and Mike, Artistic Directors of
Theatre Metropolis contacted me through my union, Playwrights Union of Canada.
They liked my published plays and wanted to meet me. We met for lunch and
several bottles of wine in a murky, basement wine bar near Embankment, and
I gave them a long list of Canadian plays, other than mine (amongst them,
Maureen Hunter's plays, Sally Clark's, George F. Walker's wonderful The
Art of War) that they should read and consider producing. Amy has glorious
long red hair, just right to play Lizzie Siddal in my play Clever As Paint.
Unfortunately for Theatre Metropolis, Clever as Paint was done at the Hen
& Chickens in 1995 (with Sharon Broadie) and had just been just done
again by the Cornwall Theatre Collective in 1998 (with Helen Speed).
I decide, at that point, that if she is a good actor,
I would like to work with her, since she clearly has the patience to work
with me. We see the play and agree on the things we liked and didn't like
about it and discuss theatrical solutions. We also discuss possible historical
subjects for a play and I promise to do some preliminary rooting around,
to see if any of the subjects interest me dramatically. Amy invites me to
a reading of three political plays from South America, which Theatre Metropolis
is staging at the Latchmere Theatre, Battersea.
Since small theatre's fortunes are variable, we agree
that they will try to seek funding through arts grants, but that we are doing
it as a labour of love, so we will continue the project whether we are funded
or not. I will give them first offer of production and credit for workshopping
the play when the book is published. We discuss possible directors for the
project. Amy and Michael go off to rehearse their production of Monsieur
D'Eon at the Southwark Playhouse and I go off to do six months of research.
Stage One (first draft,
November 2002) A cold-reading of the work-in-progress, with a quick edit
and then a second read-through and discussion. After six months of research,
the structure of the play should be in place, with scenes which may not be
in order but which I feel are essential to the play's thematic progress.
At this stage, I want to use historically accurate language, details and
chronology whenever possible (noting carefully things that are obscure or
awkward, so that those problems can be considered in the second draft. The
use of their own language is important, to get a sense of their voice. These
phrases may not be used in the final version of the play, but they reveal
the sorts of speech rhythms and mind sets of various characters. The reading
should give a sense of the various character's relationships to other characters
in the play and will suggest other solutions to expositional problems.
There will also be an emphasis on narrative: what's the
story? The play should be at least half or 3/4 length and include at least
a draft of the second act as well as the first, so that you can see where
the dramatic shape of the piece is working (and, more importantly, where
it is not). This is an in-depth director-led workshop, followed by a staged
reading (scripts in hand) to an invited audience, with a discussion following
the performance.
première :
Warehouse Theatre, East Croydon UK
September 12th - October
5, 2003
Changes Arising From the
Production
PLEASE NOTE: this site is
a free educational resource, set up to share the creative process of
play-creation. This is not the last draft of the play and should not be
performed. Kim Morrissey's play, Mrs. Ruskin, will be published
by Aark Books, London UK, and a copyscript of the play, suitable for production,
will be available from Playwrights Guild of
Canada. |