The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary (NHB Modern Plays) E-Book

Gustave Flaubert

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

Peepolykus bring their exhilarating combination of verbal slapstick, visual surprise and anarchic comedy to Gustave Flaubert's seminal nineteenth-century masterpiece Madame Bovary. Laugh and cry in equal measure as Emma Bovary chooses the wrong husband. Lose yourself in mesmeric love scenes featuring a procession of devastatingly attractive men. Rail at the fate of women in a patriarchal society, if you will. Prepare yourself for vermin, moustaches, wild animals, lots of French people and a nun. Written for a bijou cast of four playing multiple roles, The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovarywas a co-production between Peepolykus, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, the Nuffield in Southampton, Bristol Old Vic and the Royal & Derngate in Northampton. It premiered at the Everyman in Liverpool in 2016 before touring to all those other places too. Like their tremendously popular Hound of the Baskervilles, Peepolykus's Bovary offers abundant opportunities for comedy and slapstick - plus some massive tragedy - to any theatre company or drama group looking for a loving derailment of a classic novel.

Leseprobe

THE MASSIVE TRAGEDY OF MADAME BOVARY

Gustave Flaubert’s complex novellovingly derailed by Peepolykus

adapted by

John Nicholson and Javier Marzan

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Title Page

Original Production

A Note from the Authors

Characters

A Note on the Text

The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary

About the Authors

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary was produced by Peepolykus with Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, the Nuffield, Southampton, Bristol Old Vic and the Royal & Derngate, Northampton. It was first performed at the Everyman, Liverpool, on 6 February 2016. The cast was as follows:

EMMA BOVARY/‘EMMAFIELDING’ and as cast

Emma Fielding

CHARLES BOVARY/

John Nicholson

‘JOHN NICHOLSON’ and as cast

‘JAVIER MARZAN’, and as cast

Javier Marzan

‘JONATHAN HOLMES’, andeverything else

Jonathan Holmes

Director

Gemma Bodinetz

Set Designer

Conor Murphy

Costume & Associate Designer

Amanda Stoodley

Lighting Designer

Jack Knowles

Sound Designer

Fergus O’Hare

Composer

Peter Coyte

Assistant Director

Anthony Almeida

The production subsequently toured to Bristol Old Vic, the Nuffield, Southampton, and the Royal & Derngate, Northampton.

A Note from the Authors

This play was written in response to a research period in Liverpool in December 2014 where we played with the framing device that a group of players are exploring how best to do justice to Madame Bovary in their stage adaptation. In the resulting The Massive Tragedy of Madame Bovary, the actors play meta-versions of themselves (using their own names) as well as all the significant characters from Flaubert’s original novel. During the research we explored the pendulum swing between comedy and tragedy and how, when juxtaposed, comedy can expose tragedy and tragedy can expose comedy.

Special thanks go to Tom Morris, Mick Barnfather, Madeleine Worrall, Tim Dalling, Anthony Almeida and the director of the show’s premiere, Gemma Bodinetz, who were all part of this research, and also to the show’s original cast members, Jonathan Holmes and Emma Fielding, who provided additional invaluable input during rehearsals.

Characters

ACTOR 1, Emma

ACTOR 2, Jonathan

ACTOR 3, John

ACTOR 4, Javier

BLIND MAN

HIPPOLYTE

TUVACHE

HOMAIS

MME CODOUX

CHARLES BOVARY

JUSTIN

BAILIFF

EMMA’S MOTHER

MOTHER SUPERIOR

SISTER, a nun

ROAULT

MOTHER

MARCHIONESS

VISCOUNT

FOOTMAN

LÉON

LHEUREUX

COACH DRIVER

CURÉ

ROBERT

RODOLPHE

GIRARD

CAVINET

BEADLE

CAB DRIVER

FARMHANDS

Note on Text

The play is written for four actors. The actors use their own names (and play versions of themselves) when they talk directly to the audience. The cast names used in the original production have been used in this script.

In the original production, Actor 4 was a Spanish actor and some of the dialogue was written accordingly and may need to be adjusted in future productions.

The advised casting works as follows:

ACTOR 1 (Emma): Emma Bovary, Mme Codoux

ACTOR 2 (Jonathan): Blind man, Bailiff, Marchioness, Homais, Sister, Farmhand, Footman, Hippolyte, Justin, Lheureux, Curé, Girard, Beadle

ACTOR 3 (John): Charles Bovary, Emma’s Mother, Mother Superior, Cab Driver, Robert

ACTOR 4 (Javier): Léon, Rodolphe, Roault, Dr Cavinet, Viscount

This ebook was created before the end of rehearsals and so may differ slightly from the play as performed.

ACT ONE

Scene One

JAVIER and JOHN sitting on a dog cart. JAVIER is singing ‘One Thousand Green Bottles’ in Spanish at the top of his voice.

JOHN. Have you any idea how much the quality of my life would improve if you learnt another song?