She Stoops to Conquer - University of Wisconsin

 She Stoops
to Conquer
a laughing comedy
by Oliver Goldsmith Directed by
Lisa Kornetsky
Audience Guide by
Chad Bay
Welcome!
Hello! And welcome to UW-Parkside’s She
Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith. First
performed in 1773, this “laughing comedy” has
enjoyed successful runs across the globe – both
on professional stages and at universities, high
schools, and community theatres.
Within this audience guide, you’ll find
information about Oliver Goldsmith’s life, his
play, and our production team’s approach to
bringing this classic comedy to life for a
contemporary audience.
I hope you enjoy your exploration of
Goldsmith’s work and, of course, I hope that
you enjoy the show!
~Chad Bay
Dramaturge
About Oliver Goldsmith
Born in Ireland on November 10, 1728, Oliver Goldsmith
led a very interesting life. Ambling across the Irish and English
country sides, he spent his youth bouncing from
college to college at his family’s request: First
Trinity College in Dublin, where he found he
had no strengths in logic or mathematics
(instead, he developed a knack for playing the
German flute); then he was off to study law in
London, and when he showed no signs of
success there his uncle sent him to Edinburgh
to study medicine! Goldsmith made it through
two years in Edinburgh before he finally called
it quits, packing his bags and setting forth to
travel on foot through France, Germany,
Switzerland, and Italy. During this time, he
supported himself by playing his German flute,
composing ballads, and writing short stories.
Fast forward to 1756, and Oliver found himself
in London, where he took on a variety of odd
jobs to make ends meet.
Goldsmith’s position as a magazine proprietor’s
assistant proved the most fruitful. It was at this time in his life that
he was finally able to begin publishing his works. He wrote poems
and short stories – often cranking out piece after piece in order to
keep up with the demands of the publishers who supported him.
But through this drudge work came some of his most famous
pieces which are still admired today:
1764: The Traveler, a poem based on his travels across
continental Europe
1766: The Vicar of Wakefield, a novel based on his
family life when he was a child
1768: The Good-Natur’d Man marked Goldsmith’s
premiere as a playwright. It first played at the Covent
Garden Theatre, from which he made his first monetary
success.
One of Goldsmith’s chief concerns as he became
a figure in the literary world was the state of
theatre; more precisely, the state of comedy. He
believed that a true comedy gave the audience a
natural portrait of human folly and frailty. “It
excites ridicule, not pity; laughter, not tears.”
Goldsmith believed that he was seeing the death
of comedy – satirical and morality plays dominated the stages of
England at this time, and he wanted to bring laughter back to the
audiences. Thus, She Stoops to Conquer was conceived.
She Stoops to Conquer
A history
She Stoops to Conquer was an instant success when it
premiered on March 15, 1733. Audiences were delighted by its
comedy, and five days later the printed version of the script was
released to the public and sold quite well. Goldsmith’s journey
toward the successful opening night, however, was not an easy
one. She Stoops to Conquer was written in the summer 1771
while Goldsmith was living in the country, away from the
distractions of city life. Upon the completion of his play, Goldsmith
wrote a letter to his friend Bennet Langton, stating “I have been
almost wholly in the country at a farmer’s house quite along trying
to write a Comedy. It is now finished but when or how it will be
acted, or whether it will be acted at all are questions I cannot
resolve… I have been trying these three months to do something
to make people laugh. There have I been strolling about the
hedges studying jests with a most tragical countenance.”
Shortly following this letter, Goldsmith began writing to
his friend Mr. Colman, who was in charge of the Covent Garden
Theatre. It is clear that Colman was hesitant to produce
Goldsmith’s latest work, because it was not until 1773 that
Goldmsith’s letter begged: “I have as you know a large sum of
money to make up shortly; by accepting my play I can readily
satisfy my Creditor that way, at any rate I must look about to some
certainty to be prepared. For God sake take the play and let us
make the best of it.”
Pictured: the interior of
the Covent Garden
Theatre in 1808, just
before it burnt down and
was rebuilt.
A few days after this letter was written, Goldsmith received
word that his play – which was yet to be titled – had been
submitted and approved for a performance that coming spring. The
road ahead, however, was still a difficult one. She Stoops to
Conquer’s rehearsal process was ripe with pitfalls; actresses
fighting over who should be allowed to sing in the show or speak the
epilogue, constant rewrites which no one could agree upon, and a
lack of title for the show proved to be the most troubling aspects of
the process. Two days before opening night, the playbills were
printed with the title The Mistakes of a Night. It wasn’t until the
very night of the opening that Goldsmith changed the title to what it
is now known by.
And from there, the play was – to everyone’s surprise – a
complete success. Despite several magazine critics’ bashes at the
play due to its departure from traditional thematic structures of the
day, its popularity with the public soared, and a good friend of
Goldsmith’s wrote “I know of no comedy for many years that has so
much exhilarated a audience, that has answered so much the great
end of comedy—making an audience merry.”
She Stoops to Conquer
Plot and character introduction
As Goldsmith’s original title suggests, She Stoops to
Conquer is about the several comical mistakes that a group of
people make in one night, leading up to unmasking the truth, finding
love, and being merry once again.
The play tells the story of Mr. and Mrs. Hardcastle and their
chidren, Tony Lumpkin and Kate Hardcastle. At the start of the
play, we learn that Mr. Hardcastle has asked his good friend
Marlowe Senior to send his son Charles to his home to ask his
daughter Kate for her hand in marriage. Kate is excited by the
possibility of a handsome suitor, but feels apprehensive when her
father explains that he is the most bashful and reserved fellow to be
found anywhere.
Meanwhile, Charles Marlowe arrives in town at a pub with
his good friend George Hastings, looking for directions to the
Hardcastle’s home. Tony Lumpkin – Mrs. Hardcastle’s
mischievous son (step-son to Mr. Hardcastle), overhears them
talking of the Hardcastle’s home, and sets forth to deceive them into
believing they are miles from where they should be, but if they go
just a little further, they will find an inn where they may stay the
night. The inn he speaks of is Mr. Hardcastle’s own home, and
when the boys arrive they treat Mr. Harcastle as if he is nothing
more than a lowly inn keeper. (This would be mistake number one)
When Kate arrives with her cousin Constance – who happens to be
in love with George Hastings – the jig is almost up. George learns
of Tony’s deception from Constance, but they vow to keep it secret
from Charles while they plan their escape from the Hardcastle’s
home and Mrs. Hardcastle’s plans to wed Constance to her son
Tony. When Charles is left alone with Kate, he is immediately
dumbstruck, and becomes more bashful than Kate could have
imagined. Upon his retreat, Kate decides that if she will conquer
Mr. Marlowe, she must assume the role of the plain barmaid (as
these lower women are the type that Charles finds himself more
easily able to woo). When they meet again, Kate is dressed down
to a more plain dress, and Charles is immediately taken with the
barmaid of the inn. (Mistake number two).
Along the way, Tony Lumpkin manages to cause more
mayhem than what we might think possible misplacing family
jewels, deceiving his mother several ways over, duping his stepfather, and attempting to help the young lovers Constance and
George escape together. In the end, the truth is revealed, and
everything ends as it should.
And now, the characters:
Mr. Hardcastle is a middle-aged country gentleman living in an old
country house outside of London. He often states that he prefers the
simple rural life he leads to the pretensions of the city. He likes oldfashioned manners and customs. He is stuffy, but loving and kind.
*all costume sketches created by Professor Misti Bradford
Mrs. Dorothy Hardcastle is the wife of Mr. Hardcastle, who is her
second husband. Unlike her husband, she yearns to experience life in
high society. She also values material possessions and hopes to
match her son (by her first husband) with her niece, Constance
Neville, in order to keep her niece's inheritance in the family. She
plays at being younger than she is and is quite eager to flatter and be
flattered by those she perceives as fashionable.
Tony Lumpkin is the son of Mrs. Hardcastle by her
first husband. He is a frequent drinker with little
ambition except to play practical jokes and visit the
local tavern whenever he has a mind. When Tony
comes of age, he will receive 1,500 pounds a year and
his mother hopes to marry him to her niece,
Constance Neville, who is in line to inherit a casket of
jewels from her uncle. Of course, Tony and Constance
despise each other. Tony is the character who moves
the action of the play along.
Kate Hardcastle is the daughter of the Hardcastles who is wooed by
Charles Marlow. When he mistakes her for a woman of the lower
class, she allows him to continue to mistake her identity, thus freeing
his reserved behavior so she can discover what he really thinks
about her. Kate is smart and independent. She is not a shy ingénue,
but has some spunk!
Constance Neville is Kate’s cousin and best friend who loves
Hastings but is continually thwarted by Mrs. Hardcastle's schemes to
match her with Tony. Constance is an orphan and the niece and ward
of Mrs. Hardcastle (who holds Miss Neville's inheritance in her
possession until she becomes legally qualified to take possession of
it). Constance is also not a typical flighty young thing, nor is she shy.
She can be very funny and quite mischievous.
Charles Marlow comes to the country to woo Hardcastle’s pretty
daughter, Kate at his father’s request. His one character flaw is that
he is extremely shy around refined young ladies, although he is
completely at ease–and even forward–with women of “humble
birth” and working-class status. However, Marlow's redeeming
qualities make him a likeable character, and the audience tends to
root for him when he becomes the victim of a practical joke
resulting in mix-ups and mistaken identities.
George Hastings is the best friend to Marlow and in love with
Constance Neville. While Marlow is busy with Kate, Hastings is busy
with Constance. Hastings hatches a plan to elope with Constance and
receives the help of Tony, who wants to erase Constance from his
life–and his mother's constant efforts to match him with Constance.
George is, in many ways, the straight man for Marlowe.
She Stoops to Conquer
Goldsmith’s Inspiration
Critics of She Stoops to Conquer have often
ridiculed Goldsmith’s work on account of the plot’s
improbability. It simply is not believable that anyone
could be duped into believing a private home was an
inn, nor is it possible that a man could be so shy in
front of ladies of noble birth yet completely forward
and flirtatious with women of a lower status. You
might agree with this opinion. But it is these two
aspects of the play’s plot which are based directly
upon Goldsmith’s own life.
As a young man, Goldsmith was notoriously shy
around beautiful women of noble birth. He stammered
as Marlowe does, and found himself to be a compete
idiot when in the presence of a lady. And as for
mistaking a private home for an inn, well, Goldsmith
had done that, too!
When he was a student at Edgeworthstown,
Goldsmith had set out by horse for his home some 15
miles away. He rode along at such a leisurely pace
that by nightfall he had only travelled half the
distance.
With a gift in his pocket from a friend, he stopped in a
small village, asking where he might find the nearest
inn. As luck would have it, he had chosen to ask the
town’s practical joker for directions, and was pointed
to the mansion of the squire, Mr. Featherston.
Upon arriving, Goldsmith yelled for someone to
take his horse, ordered supper – but was kind enough
to ask the “inn keeper” to join him in sharing a bottle
of wine – and retired for the night leaving directions
for his breakfast pancakes the next morning. The
squire he had stumbled on happened to know of
Goldsmith’s father, and so he humored the boy’s
strange behavior. It wasn’t until that next morning
that Goldsmith was undeceived, and the trick was
revealed to him.
She Stoops to Conquer
Our production
The question that our production team as stewed over since this
past spring is: How do we make a 300 year old comedy relevant to an
audience today at UW-Parkside? How can we take what might be seen
as stuffy, old theatre and really make it fun and exciting. Most of the
answer, according to our director Lisa Kornetsky, lies within the text
itself:
What makes She Stoops to Conquer a classic, in my opinion, is
that it works. The humor is straightforward and light – this is not a
black comedy with a strong moral message. It’s funny because the plot
and the characters represent a great opportunity to have fun with a
period piece with straightforward language and acting and movement
challenges.
With this idea in mind, our production team moved forward to
begin designing the world of the play – from set to costumes, lights and
sound, everything that you, the audience, will see on stage has been
designed specifically to help engage you in the story and bring you into
the world of 1773 in England.
This painting by Thomas Rowlandson provided design inspiration for
our set designer, Keith Harris. In his design concept, Harris states:
The scenic design mirrors the conflicts found in Goldsmith
as well as his young Marlowe. Extreme Naturalism and cartooning
can be viewed as opposites in the design spectrum. Cartooning has
a tendency to feel free and unencumbered while Naturalism
embraces the rules, details, and expectations of reality. The
juxtaposition of these two styles, within the scenic design of She
Stoops to Conquer, parallels the opposites in this classic plays
themes, Oliver Goldsmith’s life, and his theatrical shadow,
Marlowe’s actions.
On the next page, you will find Keith’s renderings for the set of
She Stoops to Conquer
Keith’s design, shown here, is meant to easily
transport the audience into the world of the play,
while also allowing the characters to travel between
two separate locations – the Hardcastle’s home and
Tony Lumpkin’s pub of choice. While the house itself
is naturalistic in design, it is flanked by cartoonish
renderings of the surrounding forest which are
directly inspired by Rowlandson’s image.
Like Misti Bradford’s costumes designs, the set
offers a unique combination of realism and caricature.
The elements of design in this show create a realistic
playing field for the actors, while still highlighting the
hilarious elements of style which were so important to
society in the 18th Century.