Review: THE ROARING GIRL at Theatre Prometheus
Elizabethan-era play done broadly as possible
Theatre Prometheus, a company devoted to queer and feminist art, celebrates Pride Month 2026 with a production that’s more than 400 years old.
Yes it was the time of Shakespeare, but “The Roaring Girl” was written instead by a couple of other prolific playwrights of the era, Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker .
It’s the tale of a young man (Daniel Brody) who is forbidden from marrying his true love (Ayanna Fowler) because her dowry would be too little for his overbearing father (Erik Harrison). So he pretends to fall for a notorious cross-dressing thief Moll Catpurse (Jae K. Gee).
Moll is apparently based on a real historical figure, Mary Frith, who had a reputation of basically being a tom boy, and was never ladylike in her smoking, swordplay or bold unapologetic demeanor. While Frith became something of a legend in her time (and may have once played the role inspired by her), her manly aspects would hardly be out of the ordinary today, in straight or gay circles.
But in the olden days, gender disguises was often the basis of the comedy, so they run with it, or maybe gallop.
A play with two playwrights scores a production with two directors, Sophia Menconi and Sarah Marie Wilson, whose aim is apparently to crank up all the performances to 11, with oversized gestures, eyebrow wagging and exaggerated delivery to wring every possible titter out of the ancient piece.
The trouble with this kind of comic excess is that it leaves very little heart at the core of it, despite being a love story. It’s played so over-the-top so much of the time, there’s never a pause for any softer resolution.
We are also come to realize very quickly that not every playwright in the Elizabethan age exhibited the height of superb poetry as Shakespeare. The prose of Middleton and Dekker by comparison clinks hard on the ear.
As in any period comedy where disguising as the opposite sex is a major plot device (even when it is achieved solely by applying a mustache), it is undermined in general by today’s gender-blind casting. If contemporary audiences don’t mind which gender plays which, it makes it more difficult to care about such a thing in the story. Indeed, the picture of fair Mary by costumer Regan A. McKay is leather jacket, punk buttons and Doc Martens, a tougher look than even Moll.
In a cast prone to excess, Gee’s Moll does exude some boisterous glee and some heroics as well, particularly during a sword fight (fight direction: Julia Rabson Harris).
This version of “The Roaring Girl” seems to be set in some kingdom where Victorian furniture is arranged in a graffiti-strewn realm. Bras and balloons hang down from August Henney’s set. The choices of sound designer Kiefer Cure are irritating — with radio announcements, punk rock and static blaring between scenes.
Some seemed to have a lot of fun watching “The Roaring Girl” on opening night, but that may be out of generous spillover from Pride good cheer.
Running time: About 75 minutes, no intermission.
Photo credit: Jae K. Gee, Daniel Brody and Ayanna Fowler in “The Roaring Girl.” Photo by Charlotte Hayes / Shutterbugs Creations.
“The Roaring Girl” runs through June 27 at the Universalist National Memorial Church, 1810 16th St NW, the usual home of Spooky Action Theater. Tickets available online.
Weekly top stories - unsubscribe anytime.
|
Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater (10/17-12/06) |
|
Frida...A Self Portrait Shakespeare Theatre Company (10/08-11/08) |
|
The Score Shakespeare Theatre Company (9/11-10/25) |
|
XXII FUEGO FLAMENCO FESTIVAL GALA Hispanic Theatre (11/05-11/22) |
|
Monsters of the Villa Diodati Creative Cauldron (10/08-11/01) |
|
Some Like It Hot Bernard Family Theatre, Olney Theatre Center (9/18-11/08) |
|
Stonewall's Bust The Writers Center (10/09-10/25) |
|
Measure for Measure Folger Shakespeare Library (9/22-11/01) |
|
"The Joyfully Jolly Jamboree" - 4 p.m. The Alden Theatre (12/12-12/12) |
|
The Judy Carmichael Trio The Alden Theatre (11/08-11/08) |
Reader Reviews
To post a comment, you must register and login.