Women's Roles: Writing and Living Them

 

When I first studied acting in college, I had a teacher who loved old plays from the 1930s and 1940s. I hated these plays when I had to use them for scene study in class, even though I had to admire some of the writing. The one I most remember was called Blithe Spirit and was written by Noel Coward.

I think it made an impression on me because it had a ghost lady at the center of it, and I've always been a ghost story fan. This ghost was determined to break up her former husband's new marriage after coming back to his home via a séance. 

(I love how people in plays and movies have seances time and time again even though we all know they're nothing but trouble).

In the scene I did for class I had to play Ruth, the new bride, instead of Elvira, the ghost wife, who was SO much more interesting. I was having terrible troubles at the time with a cheating boyfriend and all of Ruth's anguish was bleeding into my own. I guess what I was looking for was the kind of power the ghost woman had in messing with her (cheating) husband--even though he was cheating with her.

What really bothered me was how the two women were fighting over this guy--who didn't seem very bright, to start with. I wanted to see women in charge of their lives, not dependent on a man's love or admiration or whatever it was.

At some point I gave up on trying to find those characters in existing plays and started writing them myself. I hope now when younger women are looking for scenes to use in their acting classes, they have stronger women to choose from. Thanks to more and more women playwrights, I think they do.

Yet, I still hear women actors say they wish there were stronger roles for women. I'm glad they're pointing out they want more--and hope playwrights of both genders will continue to write them.

Of course, Noel Coward was a spectacular playwright and I only wish I could write comedy a tenth as well as he did. I know in the time he was writing, women had so many fewer options and their roles were extremely limited.

At the same time, actors like Katherine Hepburn managed to break through the stereotypes and created fascinating characters for us. The 1930s and 40s movies were like a war between strong and weaker women, but a lot of times the stronger women won. 

The gains they made were overshadowed in the 1950s (when women were expected to stay home and wear pearls while they vacuumed like June Cleaver in Leave it to Beaver. But at least the women in 1930s and 40s movies gave us a glimpse of what we could be.

Looking back, I'm grateful I had a teacher who liked the old plays. They taught me a lot about writing, banter, snappy dialogue and tension than I ever would have learned otherwise. They also taught me what I didn't like about women's roles, and how to make them better.

Maybe we should pull out more of those old chestnuts every once in a while, at least in acting school? You can still learn a lot by listening to a ghost.

Ghost arms photo: Soffie Hicks