BONNETS: Ann Folino White, Abigail Byrne, Zaria Aikens - a podcast by In the Aud

This episode of In the Aud was recorded on February 28, 2020 in anticipation of promoting the upcoming production of Bonnets: How Ladies of Good Breeding Are Induced to Murder by Jen Silverman, scheduled to open on Friday, March 13.

 

Due to the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) outbreak, MSU suspended face-to-face instruction on Wednesday, March 11, 2020. That afternoon Department of Theatre Faculty, Staff and Students learned all rehearsals and performances for the remainder of the 2019/2020 season would be postponed or canceled. What follows is a tribute from director Dr. Ann Folino White, Ph.D. to the audience of Bonnets.

 

"On Tuesday, March 10, 2020, I concluded rehearsal as I always do, with “notes”; that’s theatre jargon meaning the comments given by the director about acting or staging. That night was our second full dress rehearsal, three days before our scheduled opening. My notes were almost entirely complimentary; I had few requests for even minor tweaks. I finished by saying, “Our job is done. All we need is an audience.” Claire Wilcher, cast member and MFA candidate, jokingly asked, “So . . . we get to take tomorrow night off?”
 
That was Tuesday.
On Wednesday …well… you know what happened.
 
If we had opened the show, if you had been in the audience, you would have experienced the classic 3Ms of Theatre: Merriment, Murder, and Motorboating (the naughty kind). Ok, 3Ms isn’t a real thing; I made it up a while ago because the production did include all the aforementioned elements, and what more could anyone want in a play?!
 
In all truth, had you been able to join us in the Studio 60 Theatre, you surely would have been surprised by punk pieces bursting through the constricting clothing of Puritan Salem, 1800s England, and 1700s Paris. You would have awed at how three doors set in a painted wall managed to capture the whole history of women’s artistic expression as a means to fight oppression. The lighting and sound designs would have transported you to these times and places in ways not merely atmospheric, but evocative of the emotional lives of the characters. You would have seen eleven women inspirit male and female characters with abandon: You would have swooned at Laurent, and fallen in love with Claire just as he did. You would have envied Valerie’s candor and confidence. Your heart would have broken at Georgette’s loneliness for a friend. You would have hoped against hope that the maid, Webster, would get the girl – yes, sweet insecure Georgette. You would have empathized with the “unpleasant” Mrs. Wolcott in spite of yourself. You would have raged at Daniel’s humiliation of Prudence, but also scoffed at his stupidity and marveled at her resolve. As Mistress Stone faced an unjust death with dignity, you would have found yourself doubting, like Fortitude, that gender equity will ever come. (Did I mention it’s a comedy?) And, like God herself, you would have wanted to both dance in the terrible beauty of it all and blow up the whole damn thing. 
 
You see, we got to make a whole world together. We got to make it just the way we wanted it. Our work was joyful, and it was done. 
 
I truly wish you were there. I am mourning the fact that we could not share it, not as much for us – the designers, stage managers, assistant directors, dramaturg, technicians, crew, and cast – as for you. I’m sorry you missed it."

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