THE BASICS: THE BARONESS AND THE PIG, a 1997 play by Canadian playwright, filmmaker, and director Michael Mackenzie, directed at ShawFest by Selma Dimitrijevic at the Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre (across the courtyard from the Festival Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario, runs through October 6, at various days and times. 1-800-511-SHAW www.shawfest.com Travel time from Buffalo? To allow for bridge traffic, parking, etc. I’d recommend two hours. Runtime: a little under 2 hours including one intermission.
Why go to the Shaw Festival? Because it’s right over there and you are so close.
THUMBNAIL SKETCH: A Parisian Baroness of The Gilded Age (we never meet The Baron) has trouble keeping maids in her employ and then, inspired by the philosopher Rousseau, brings a feral girl, literally raised in a pigsty, into her home and starts to teach her to be a lady’s maid. Yes, there are many parallels to Shaw’s PYGMALION, but there are darker elements afoot, things are not always what they seem, and there is a decided TWIN PEAKS vibe. “Pretty can be a disadvantage,” the Baroness tells Emily. “All of our previous maids were pretty.” The deliberate lack of concrete explication or explanation of exactly how pretty can be a disadvantage has left many audience members and critics unhappy. I, on the other hand, was quite pleased and I believe that this play will grow on you.
THE PLAYERS, THE PLAY, AND THE PRODUCTION: There are only two actresses and they command the stage. When we meet the Baroness (Yanna McIntosh) she is very tall, imperious, and measured in her pace and her speech. This contrasts with Emily (“The Pig” of the title) who is much more physical, animal-like, earth-bound, and wide-eyed as played by Julia Course. Emily takes things very literally, and, uneducated and unable to appreciate the difference between a work of “fiction” and a how-to manual, takes in a play such as Julius Caesar the same way she might absorb directions on how to set a table. Et tu, Emily?
There is a pun on the title, with the word “pig” reminding us of “Pygmalion.” Similarly, Emily’s name was given to her by The Baroness who was impressed by the novel Emile, or On Education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a French Enlightenment thinker. Rousseau’s novel is really a manual of education, using a character named Emile who is tutored in becoming an ideal citizen by encouraging his native human goodness while avoiding the corrupting power of society. The book opens: “Everything is good as it leaves the hands of the Author of things; everything degenerates in the hands of man.” Recall the Baroness telling her maid Emily: “Pretty can be a disadvantage. All of our previous maids were pretty.” Note the past tense.
Emily was sheltered from the real world by being relegated to living with the pigs, uncorrupted by society. And the Baroness, by virtue of her wealth and position, has also been living a sheltered life. Yes, Emily is being educated, but towards the end of the play, the Baroness learns a thing or two, in particular why all the previous maids left.
Now, to be sure, it’s not all creepy Pygmalion meets #MeToo. It’s also pretty damn funny, as the Baroness educates Emily and Emily educates the Baroness. They are both lonely women, or at least women on their own, and they provide each other with some good times and some good laughs. And, for much of the play, “Everything is good.”
Why go to the Shaw Festival? Because it’s right over there and you are so close. Because of the time and money lavished upon their productions. Set construction and costuming begin many months in advance. Because rehearsals with the actors begin several months in advance with actors who are contracted for the season and don’t have to rehearse while still carving out time for their “day jobs.” They are rested and fully committed. Yes, it’s expensive by Buffalo standards, but in a little over an hour’s drive you can often experience quality on a par with Toronto or New York or Los Angeles. Perhaps not with their musicals, which are not always “Broadway” quality, but certainly you can with the Shaw’s straight theater.
UP NEXT: What’s next for you at the ShawFest? That’s up to you. If you like plays by Shaw, then I can recommend O’FLAHERTY V.C. (which is a “Lunchtime One-Act” that can be easily combined with a 2 p.m. matinee). It’s stuffed with great bombasts about the English character. But if THE BARONESS AND THE PIG appeals to you with its shifting moods, then I would recommend THE ORCHARD (AFTER CHEKHOV) which is a retelling of Chekhov’s THE CHERRY ORCHARD invoking Canadian immigrant history. Best of all, the playwright herself, Sarena Parmar, is part of the cast.
*HERD OF BUFFALO (Notes on the Rating System)
ONE BUFFALO: This means trouble. A dreadful play, a highly flawed production, or both. Unless there is some really compelling reason for you to attend (i.e. you are the parent of someone who is in it), give this show a wide berth.
TWO BUFFALOS: Passable, but no great shakes. Either the production is pretty far off base, or the play itself is problematic. Unless you are the sort of person who’s happy just going to the theater, you might look around for something else.
THREE BUFFALOS: I still have my issues, but this is a pretty darn good night at the theater. If you don’t go in with huge expectations, you will probably be pleased.
FOUR BUFFALOS: Both the production and the play are of high caliber. If the genre/content are up your alley, I would make a real effort to attend.
FIVE BUFFALOS: Truly superb–a rare rating. Comedies that leave you weak with laughter, dramas that really touch the heart. Provided that this is the kind of show you like, you’d be a fool to miss it!