Published: Wednesday, February 11, 2009 at 10:35 a.m.
"The Rights (and Wrongs) of Mary Wollstonecraft,” a play by Douglas Pendergrass, is a pleasant surprise. The show is a historical drama and the premiere of a first-time playwright, so along with there being a small audience the night I attended, I thought it was going to be a drag.
Far from! The script is intellectually and emotionally stimulating, and the acting is fantastic.
The play is about a women’s activist in Britain during the late 18th century. She gave birth to Mary Shelley (author of “Frankenstein”) and was in love with the philosopher William Godwin (“An Enquiry for Political Justice”). The play is about how two intellectuals, both spokespeople on the faults of marriage, fell in love and eventually, despite the disdain of their followers, got married.
This play is primarily a love story about two people fighting society’s expectations while also fighting their own beliefs and changing senses of self. Their struggle is timeless, and their battles remind us how long individuals have been attempting to loosen social structures and empower the individual’s mind and heart.
The script is well-written. We learn the history enough to understand the plot (no reading up before the show is necessary), yet we are not steeped in the telling or unnaturally placed “information” in the dialogue. Part of this is credited, of course, to the actors, who beautifully and naturally reveal philosophy and history. Mary Shelley (Sydney Ingraham) also helps by occasionally narrating the story of her parent’s meeting. It’s gimmicky, but necessary, and works well for this show.
Melissa Stanley as Mary Wollstonecraft is excellent. Her timing, focus and diction are exceptionally sharp, and she never comes across as anything but natural. Greg Oldeen as Godwin is equally well-trained and plays an endearing and funny character. Rebekah Hayler as Amelia, a friend and admirer of Wollstonecraft’s who was once proposed to by Godwin, is spot-on in the embodiment of her character while taking a notable journey in Amelia’s development.
The play’s director, Steve Vernon, has staged “Wollstonecraft” simply and in the round. The depth of connection and agitation he has helped the actors develop is a great feat, especially in a script of this nature where a lack of real emotional connection would result in an educational show rather than a heartfelt drama.
The play is not perfect. The first half is a bit too long, and some of the interactions feel forced. But it is nice to see a play in Wilmington that is true and smart, something that fills the mind with philosophy and knowledge and makes the heart weep at both love’s strength and its inability. This is the kind of show that leaves the audience with something to think about, something to talk about and something to take back into the world to share.
