Aphra takes the stage? Wha-at?

As a sort of supplement to that last post....

After glancing at the dedicatory epistle in Oroonoko, I wanted to take a few moments to consider the authoress herself… Or, rather, a few recent perceptions of Ms. Behn. Certainly, she seems to’ve become quite the popular figure (“popular” being a relative term), a bastion of early feminine strength and achievement whose role as a spy adds a spice of intrigue. Ms. Behn has traveled a long route to reach her current status (the collection of reviews and references provided in the Norton edition help to land this point), tossed back and forth from designations of heralded authoress to shiftless wanton; for the time, at least, she seems largely to have landed on the positive side.

This passage through time’s shifting lenses is itself quite fascinating. But there is another thought. What with the Norton-provided excerpts of Thomas Southerne’s adaptation of Oroonoko, in-class references to the ways in which the 18th Century saw stories transferred or adapted into diverse forms, and recollections of a play I happened to read last year, my thoughts turned to pondering recent theatrical adaptations of Behn’s life. Because, yes, while her own work continues to see the light of production, the allure of her life has prompted playwrights and production teams to make attempts at reviving Aphra (whether conjuring some associated spirit or symbol, or attempting to recreate the woman herself) on the stage.

So, to the plays. I won’t begin to claim that this is an all-inclusive list, with all of its, oh, four (well, five) examples. This is simply the selection I’ve thus far found. If you happen to know of any other pieces, please do tell… I’m curious, here, and would like to see the range of representations Ms. Behn has earned herself. (The question of “ why translate Behn and her work into this particular form and tale” lurking with each of these.)

The plays, then.

Or, – Liz Duffy Adams: Following Aphra from debtor’s prison to bedroom trysts, from one man’s arms into another woman’s and one close call into the next, Or, seems a regular rollick of a play, and appears to be the most widely known play depicting Behn (it has, at the very least, earned the lion’s share of web space). Adams draws parallels between the 1660s and 1960s, noting in an interview with Adam Szymkowicz (check out his blog for a veritable slew of playwright interviews, by the by) that “the Restoration period was humming with a kind of aesthetic/ideology that reminded me of the late 1960s.” Think on that one, for a moment… Oh, and why Aphra? In the same interview, Adams suggests that she “thought it would be fun to write about” Behn, who “seems to have had a genius for reinventing the world around her instead of adapting herself to it.” The piece was first produced by Women's Project in late 2009 (check out a review from The New York Times).

“Aphra Does Antwerp” – Liz Duffy Adams: The fun doesn’t stop with Or,…. Actually, it appears that Adams’ fun began with “Aphra Does Antwerp” (yes, I do intend to dwell on the title, thank you). In an interview with Women’s Project, Adams notes that this ten-minute play “set just before the events of Or, when Aphra was stuck in Antwerp on a spying mission that was going badly.” Written and produced in 2001, for the Women’s Project’s Playwrights Lab.

The Empress of the Moon – Chris Braak: The most recently written of the pieces listed here, The Empress of the Moon was produced in August of 2010 by Special Operations Executive, connected with Iron Age Theatre. Accounts indicate that the play involves an attempt at melding Oroonoko (oh, hey!) and The Rover, and Braak (or someone posting under his names) describes the piece as, “a mythic, epic ride into an imagined history, flirting with facts at a discreet distance.” For further information, read a bit more from Braak at his blog or check out a couple of less-than-awestruck reviews.

Love Arm’d: Aphra Behn and her Pen – Karen Eterovich: It’s 1682, and Aphra Behn has a lover to discard and issues to confront. This one-woman show apparently provides a retrospective look at Behn’s life (told by the woman herself, of course), woven with fragments of Behn’s work, and was first produced in 1994. For further information, wander over to the production’s website or check out this brief review.

The Spirit of Aphra Behn – Illona Linthwaite: Another one-woman show. A modern-day actress is hijacked by Aphra Behn's spirit. Complications ensue for about an hour. First performed in 1999, at the Edinburgh Festival, the piece has since seen several further productions. If you should be curious, take a look at the actress/author’s website, on which Linthwaite indicates, “I decided to create a piece that weaved [Aphra’s] own words with those of the fictitious Isabel. In this way I felt sure that I was speaking directly from her mind and heart.”

Perhaps not all the most stimulating-sounding pieces (not even stimulating in the majority, one might say… though could be fun to do so some comparing and contrasting of scripts), but interesting to see the ways in which Ms. Behn has set to work on some more theatrically inclined imaginations. Adaptation, it appears, continues ever apace.