Pygmalion: A Look at the Research Process with Skye Robinson Hillis

In our continuing series of posts looking behind-the scenes at BoHo's co-production of Pygmalion with Stage Left Theatre, we spoke with dramaturg Sky Robinson Hillis about how she approached researching a period show with this much history.

How to you get started when you're putting together research for a show? What's your first step?

Skye: It depends on the type of play you're working on, and whether or not it's a new play. Usually I begin with research of the era, particularly with a play like this. The time period is always the jumping off point for me. It usually guides me in the right direction. Everything starts there.

How do you anticipate what research might be most useful for the production team?

Skye:Anticipation is not always reliable, so I prefer just to ask them. I lay the groundwork and then if there's something specific they need me to focus on, better to find that out sooner than later. But generally, I would say we all tend to be interested in the same thing, and have a similar idea of what's important, as per the director's vision.

Drowning in information is possibly even less useful than having no information at all.

Where do you find your information? What has been your most interesting source for Pygmalion?

Skye:All over. Both the library and the internet. They each have their strengths and weaknesses. For this production, I read a lot of books on Victorian and Edwardian etiquette, so I became "Miss Manners." Maybe due to the time period we were looking at, the library was actually the more useful of the two. My most interesting source was actually this fantastic website that essentially turned Victorian England into an interactive Google map-type deal and allowed us to explore the city of London at that time. (I would include the link, but evidently now you have to pay for it.)

What is the most fun about being a dramaturg?

Skye:I'm just a giant nerd, so just about everything is the most fun thing. Working on this was especially so because Pygmalion has been one of my favorite plays since I was about thirteen and this was the first time I'd had any opportunity to actually be involved in a production of it. Researching the relationship between George Bernard Shaw and Mrs. Patrick Campbell is pretty much just an average Friday night for Skye Robinson Hillis, so it was a blast.

What is the most challenging aspect?

Skye:The most challenging aspect tends to be the filtering the information. Picking and choosing from all the gems you've discovered in order to focus on what's most relevant to the production, to the play we're making. But it's important to make those decisions and not overwhelm. Drowning in information is possibly even less useful than having no information at all.

Pygmalion is currently running at Theater Wit through February 10th. Learn more...

Tartuffe: The Controversy

     There is very little written documentation as to why Moliere’s Tartuffe was suppressed for years by the French King Louis XIV. It is very likely that some readings of the unfinished Tartuffe had been heard around court and that Louis XIV had been present at these readings. Word of the content of the play had made its way to an only thirty-year-old Catholic organization, La Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement (Company of the Blessed Sacrament), and they began to pressure Louis XIV to suppress the play. Moliere’s former patron, Prince de Conti, had become a fervent member of this group around the same time he refused to continue supporting Moliere’s troupe. There has been some suggestion that Conti inspired the play and the hypocritcal character of Tartuffe. Probably because of the influence of La Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement, just five days after the first performance of the unfinished play, Louis XIV officially forbade its performance.


     One historical source suggests that strong protest against the play came from the Kings mother, Anne of Austria. Queen Anne was a very religious woman who had ties with La Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement. The Queen Mother hated that Louis had a very public, and very loving, relationship with his mistress. She found this offensive, inappropriate and incompatible with her religion. In her many attempts to reform her son, she most likely recruited the efforts of La Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement, and so joined in their condemnation of the still as-of-yet unfinished Tartuffe.


     The play was allowed to perform three private performances (only one of which was the completed text), but then was unseen until the Paris opening of the re-titled L’Imposteur in 1667. It ran only once to a packed house and was immediately shut down again. A week later, the Archbishop of Paris issued an order to prevent all the people of Paris from hearing, seeing or reading L’Imposteur. Soon after this, an anonymous letter began to appear in bookshops defending the play- though it had no effect. The king was out of Paris at the time, and Moliere’s letters to him went unanswered. Finally, upon the return of the King to Paris, on February 5th, 1669 Tartuffe was allowed to open and stay open.

-- compiled by Ariel Tocino, Director of New Works and Social Media for BoHo Theatre. Tartuffe opens this weekend at Theater Wit! Get your tickets today. Follow BoHoTheatre on Twitter: @BohoTheatre for updates on the show, the season and all things BoHo!

Tartuffe: Meet the Playwright

The playwright we know today as Moliere was born in 1622 as Jean-Baptiste Poquelin in Paris, the eldest of six children. His family was upper class, and had a thriving upholstery business. Jean-Baptiste’s father, Jean Poquelin, was able to purchase a royal post for his family, as "Tapissiers ordinaires de la chambre du Roi", (upholsters of the royal family). This brought the Poquelin family even closer to the royal court, which would help Jean-Baptiste in his adulthood as a playwright. In 1641, Jean-Baptiste attended a Jesuit school, College de Clermont, and received a Law Degree. He also began a famous romantic liaison with the much older actress Madeleine Bejart. Together in 1643, the two founded Illustre Theatre (“Illustrious Theatre”). Unfortunately, in 1644, Illustre Theatre failed, closed, and Jean-Baptiste was thrown into and bailed out of debtors prison.

In 1645, Jean-Baptiste began touring the countryside with as a performer with an acting troupe. It is at this time that he assumed the name Moliere, and joined a theatre company, Dufresne, which he would eventually control. After years of touring the countryside, in 1656 Moliere and his troupe return to Paris and performed many successful shows written by Moliere. In 1659, the troupe began to receive regular monetary support from the king and in 1660, the troupe moved to the theatre at Palais-Royal.

In 1662 Moliere married Armande, an actress in his troupe twenty years his junior. The next year Moliere and his troupe were invited to perform at Versailles for the first time. In 1664, the first three acts of Tartuffe are presented to the court at Versailles. It was not until 1667 when first complete version of Tartuffe offered, but immediately suppressed by the king. Finally two years later in 1669, a second version of Tartuffe was finally allowed to perform and was a huge success. Tartuffe made the troupe the most money they ever make in any one run of a show.

Moliere eventually wrote over 30 plays and lived his life as a famous actor. In 1673, Moliere became very ill during a performance of Le Malade Imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), and died on Feb 17, 1673.


-- compiled by Ariel Tocino, Director of New Works and Social Media for BoHo Theatre. Tartuffe opens this weekend at Theater Wit! Get your tickets today. Follow her on Twitter: @BohoTheatre for updates on the show, the season and all things BoHo!