“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
My friend, Eddie Powell, said that to me after a horrendous first half of a basketball game in which I could not find the Backboard with any shot let alone the rim or the net. I like that philosophy and I have preached it to others. Now once again I am practicing what I am preaching as we embark upon our next production: The Jesters Wife.
THE JESTER’S WIFE
A Dark Ages Comedy by T.J. Elliott
Synopsis
The image above is one panel of the famed 16th Century altarpiece by Goossen van der Weyden that depicted the life of Dymphna, legendary medieval Irish Saint. The most famous of those panels shows her along with her confessor, jester, and the jester’s wife escaping her father, (described in the 17th Century Acta Sanctorum, or Lives Of The Saints), as a King of Ireland (who) grieving over his beautiful dead wife, turned his attention and lust upon Dymphna.” Spoiler alert: that king pursues and beheads Dymphna “because she refused to consent to their brutish passion.” Yet none of these stories explain what became of the Jester and his Wife. Apparently, they survived to impart Dymphna’s legend, but no one has told their story. Until now.
The Jester’s Wife, a Dark Ages comedy, follows this surviving couple as confronted by evil and still afraid for their lives they now encounter a stranger afflicted with madness. Contemplating questions of survivorship, responsibility, and who gets to tell a story, the play blends and bends the medieval Irish world into a riotous mingling of myth-making, martyrdom, machinations, and magic all too familiar to our present lives.
There’s that spoiler alert again: Dymphna loses her head but The Jester’s Wife keeps hers — for now
What’s Next?
We have assembled a superb casting for the three roles, Stranger, Jester and Wife as well as our staged reading narrator. See their details at this post. — — APRIL 20 staged reading at our good friends TheaterLab in NYC that will lead to a September production.
And now we are looking for have found a set designer, costume designer, rehearsal assistant, stage manager, and a fight coordinator. Yes, a fight coordinator: don’t worry no actors or playwrights or most importantly audience members will be injured in the course of this play. And we are seeking a PR representative and marketing consultant for this planned Fall production.
Our loyal and marvelous supporter, Ed Altman, follows up his stellar acting in last May’s The Oracle at Theater for the New City this time to serve as Assistant Producer and Marjorie Phillips Elliott will again serve as Executive Producer. Want to help? Let us know!
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