Online readthroughs, draft programme

[wildeabandon]

I've decided that after today I'm going to drop the frequency of online readthroughs from weekly to fortnightly. This is for a few reasons; one is that between my new job starting next week and the course at the end of the month I'm likely to have a bit less bandwidth for doing the organising; another is that with restrictions on our behaviour considerably lighter than they were when I started this, I think there's a bit less appetite for online social events; yet another is that my own offline social life, whilst still fairly restrained, is starting to be a thing again, and hosting a readthrough every single weekend might start to feel like a bit of an impediment.

My rough plan is to host the following readthroughs between now and the end of the year, although the list isn't set in stone, and the order may well vary considerably. The scripts for the *d plays are still in copyright so will have to be bought, although participants in the Easter rendition of Tony Harrison's Passion will have his Nativity in the same volume.

• The Convent of Pleasure by Margaret Cavendish (early modern closet drama about a group of unmarried women who choose to avoid the pains of men and marriage by creating their own community)
• *Night Watch by Stephen Briggs, adapted from the novel by Terry Pratchett (time-travel police procedural set in the Discworld)
• A Very English Scandal by Russell T Davies (first two episodes) (queer political drama/comedy about the Jeremy Thorpe affair)
• A Very English Scandal (third episode) / Salomé by Oscar Wilde (salacious retelling of the story of the death of John the Baptist)
• Perkin Warbeck by John Ford (Carolinian-era history play about a pretender to the English throne, who claimed to have been one of the princes in the tower and have escaped, rather than being murdered by Richard III)
• *Vinegar Tom by Caryl Churchill (1975 play examining gender and power relations through the lens of 17th century witch trials)
• Trelawney of the Wells by Arthur Wing Pinero (Victorian comedy about a theatre star who attempts to give up the stage for love, but is unable to fit into conventional society)
• The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd (early modern, arguably the first revenge tragedy, thought to be part of the inspiration for Hamlet)
• *The Nativity by Tony Harrison (modern interpretation of the York/Chester/&c Mystery plays in Yorkshire dialect)

They will probably mostly be on Saturday afternoons, but not exclusively. juliet sorry that that doesn't work for you; if there are things in the programme that you're particularly enthusiastic about, let me know, and I'll try to make sure they're scheduled for times you can make. Similarly rosefox, if there are any you'd particularly like me to try and arrange for a UK evening so you'll be able to join do shout. And indeed, if anyone wants to tell me what they're excited about and dates to avoid then I'll do my best to accommodate you.

Finally, if anyone has any suggestions for things that I could do to make these readthroughs more enjoyable for or accessible to you, I'd love to hear them - particularly if you've been tempted to join but haven't for whatever reason, but also if you do sometimes come, but find anything about them difficult.

Comments

[bunnypip]

There are several of these I would be interested in. I am especially keen on the Margaret Cavendish one (probably because I suggested it). I'm also happy to chat about that one or answer questions if people would like.

(I do teach Margaret Cavendish although I usually teach her 1666 sci-fi novella)

[highlyeccentric]

I'm keen for Margaret Cavendish especially (and can probably NOT do the weekend of the 12th sept)

Thoughts

[minihedgehog]

I'm particularly interested in:
A very english scandal
Night Watch
The convent of pleasure
Trelawney of the wells

I'm at an (online) conference the 12th & 13th of September.

Otherwise I have no known weekend clashes, but the literal only thing I know about my life past September is I have a scan at the hospital and I am hoping I don't have a cold or bronchitis at that point. I don't know if I'll be back to work, I don't know if I'm going to be back at dance (which will make Saturdays possibly not work anymore - but its all very uncertain because covid).

I'm comfortable checking dreamwidth the Tuesday-Thursday ish before an expected weekend, but wouldn't know where to begin with evenings, especially as recently every single month rn my weekday schedule turns upside down. That doesn't mean I'm not interested, but it does mean I don't know anything useful to tell you other than "I'm generally busy on Tuesdays."

I appreciate this is not the most helpful thing in the world. I like schedules a lot myself...

I'll try to remember to update here when I actually find stuff out^TM tho! And still very much thank you for the organising, I'm getting less social life rn instead of more, lots less whenever I get ill, so I'm extra grateful as we head into Autumn/Winter

[juliet]

No worries, if any do happen to be on not-Saturdays I will attend :) (though am away weekend of 12th and 19th Sept anyway)

I would really love to take part in the Night Watch one so if there's any chance of that being a not-Saturday that would be awesome. But I imagine many people will be enthusiastic about that!

[minihedgehog]

I'm sadly not free on the 26th of Sept now - it was the only time for weeks I could get my Flu jab. I'm guarding the October dates quite jealously, but the other medical stuff I'm waiting doesn't happen on weekends anyway so all should be good 😄

[minihedgehog]

Continuing updates, I'm either not around or at least late on the 24th of Oct - I could appear by 15:30. I'm likely to be around most other Saturdays between now and Xmas both because of the uptick in cases and because work (which is apparently now possible) requires quite strict self isolation.

Thank you for all the organising! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜💖