Hogue’s new play has plenty of passion

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This article was published 09/05/2017 (3262 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When talking about the legendary figure of Dame Ethel Smyth, Muriel Hogue’s passion comes shining through.

And it’s this reverence for the subject that Hogue hopes will also captivate audiences during the upcoming run of Passion.

Red Hen Productions will present the new play by St. Vital resident Hogue, the play’s writer and producer, at the Rachel Browne Theatre (211 Bannatyne Ave.) between May 11 and 19. Directed by Kelly Daniels, Passion — which is subtitled The life and loves of Dame Ethel Smyth — stars Ian Bastin, Ntara Curry, Patricia Hunter, Lindsay Johnson, Maggie Nagel, Tom Soares, and Tracy Penner as Ethel. Set and lighting is by Sean E. McMullen, and costumes are by Joseph Abetria.

The play tells the story of the early years of Smyth, who lived from 1858 to 1944, who Hogue describes as the most important English female composer of the early 20th century. Up until 2016, she was the only woman to have had an opera produced at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Hogue said.

“Her place in the canon of women musicians is prime. Her influence opened up the doors for women in orchestras and on the podium, as well,” said Hogue, a Winnipeg playwright and actor who won the Harry Rintoul Award for best new play at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival in 2010 for Scar Tissue.

“So often, we’re after the new, shiny thing. I like to delve a bit more into how we got where we are,” Hogue said.

“Back in Ethel’s time, there was still work to do, whether it was women having their voices heard or women in the workplace. Ethel wasn’t going to be put down the Victorian society she came from. She became a suffragette, and made other doors open musically for women. When she was a suffragette, she spent two months in Holloway Prison in London.”

“How extraordinary the time was she lived in — we have a picture of restraint, but things were seething underneath the surface, especially with things like who you were allowed to love. Ethel didn’t care about age or gender. She was bisexual, and preferred women, but also had a lifelong relationship with a man. She just wanted to love and make music. Ethel challenged social mores of that time, and suffered badly for that, at times, when society came down on her. But, she always crawled back and was a dynamic little person. One of her colleagues called her a study in perpetual motion,” she added.      

With the play’s debut just around the corner, Hogue is relishing working with an ensemble of accomplished actors.

“It’s a wonderful cast that is doing a tremendous job,” she said.

Specifically, there will be shows on May 11 to 13 and May 16 to 19 at 8 p.m., as well as May 14 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets are $30/$27. There will also be a dress rehearsal on May 10, when audience members can pay what they can afford.

Tickets are available at brownpapertickets.ca or at the door. 

simon.fuller@canstarnews.com

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