Wonder of the Age
by Jeremy Beaulne
March 10th-13th, 2022
by Jeremy Beaulne
March 10th-13th, 2022
To think, in a few short minutes we shall make the acquaintance of the woman who shall
transform all we know of natural philosophy! And obstetrics! And theology! I am simply beside myself, Obadiah.
In 1726, Mary Toft, an illiterate peasant from the village of Godalming, England, became the talk of London when she convinced several prominent physicians—including Nathanael St. André, anatomist to the Royal Household—that she had given birth to seventeen rabbits. When Toft’s hoax was exposed, the doctors she had fooled were satirized in the popular press, and several reputations were ruined. Toft herself was denounced as an “Abominable Cheat & Imposture” and incarcerated in Bridewell Prison for four months. There has been much speculation about what might have motivated Toft’s hoax and how much agency she had in the deception…
Wonder of the Age, the Red Dot Players’ Spring 2022 production, is a fictionalized account of the story of Mary Toft, set in the fashionable Westminster bagnio where Toft was held while all of London debated the veracity of her claim—and waited for her to give birth to another rabbit!
Wonder of the Age, the Red Dot Players’ Spring 2022 production, is a fictionalized account of the story of Mary Toft, set in the fashionable Westminster bagnio where Toft was held while all of London debated the veracity of her claim—and waited for her to give birth to another rabbit!
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CAST
JENNY BOYD: Elizabeth Flowers NATHANAEL ST. ANDRÉ: Brandon Benner NELL POCKET: Kendra Holly Grant SUZE VEAL: Ashley Johnson OBADIAH SQUIB: Harry Grossmith JONATHAN SWALLOW: Steven Taylor SIR RICHARD MANNINGHAM: Harsh Hundal MARY TOFT: Emily Hardy CREW DIRECTOR: Jeremy Beaulne STAGE MANAGER: Joe Arduini COSTUME COORDINATOR: Ashley Johnson COSTUME CREW: Polly Chaiboripan, Kendra Holly Grant, Ashley Johnson, Karen Tessier LIGHTING DESIGNER: Mike Minions PROPERTIES DIRECTOR: Bev Arduini POSTER DESIGNER: Emilia Kennedy PHOTOGRAPHER: Denise Johnson SET DESIGNER: Joe Arduini SOUND DESIGNER: Jeremy Beaulne |
Poster designed by Okanagan College Writing & Publishing student Emilia Kennedy.
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Photograph by Denise Johnson
College’s Red Dot Players return to the stage with Wonder of the Age
Curtain up! After a two-year, pandemic-imposed hiatus, Okanagan College’s theatre troupe, the Red Dot Players, are bringing back the wonder of live theatre this March.
Wonder of the Age is an original comedy by playwright and director Jeremy Beaulne about a medical hoax that scandalized eighteenth-century London. The show will run March 10-13 in the theatre at OC’s Kelowna Campus, 1000 KLO Road at the following times:
“We presented our last Red Dot Players show, Vanity Fair, the week before everything was shut down by the pandemic,” explains Beaulne, who is also a Professor in the English department at OC. “Two years later, it is exhilarating to be back in the theatre and working on a new production.”
The play will transport audiences over the Atlantic and all the way back to 1726, to hear a fictionalized account of Mary Toft, an illiterate peasant from the village of Godalming, England. Toft became the talk of London when she convinced several prominent physicians—including Nathanael St. André, anatomist to the Royal Household—that she had given birth to seventeen rabbits.
When Toft’s hoax was exposed, the doctors she had fooled were satirized in the popular press, and several reputations were ruined.
“Toft herself was denounced as an “Abominable Cheat & Imposture” and incarcerated in Bridewell Prison for four months,” notes Beaulne. “There has been much speculation about what might have motivated Toft’s hoax and how much agency she had in the deception.”
Wonder of the Age is set in the fashionable Westminster bagnio where Toft was held while all of London debated the veracity of her claim—and waited for her to give birth to another rabbit.
For their part, the Red Dot players have been waiting anxiously to get back to the stage in front of a live audience.
“Although some of us have learned to appreciate Zoom theatre over the course of the pandemic, it cannot match the rush of performing in front of a live audience,” says Beaulne. “We’re very excited to transport audiences back to the early 1700s as we tell the strange-but-true story of the Rabbit Woman of Godalming!”
This play is recommended for mature audiences. As per provincial COVID-19 health mandates, all audience members must by fully vaccinated (vaccine passports will be verified at the door) and masks are mandatory.
Wonder of the Age is an original comedy by playwright and director Jeremy Beaulne about a medical hoax that scandalized eighteenth-century London. The show will run March 10-13 in the theatre at OC’s Kelowna Campus, 1000 KLO Road at the following times:
- Thursday, March 10, 7:30 p.m.
- Friday, March 11, 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday, March 12, 7:30 p.m.
- Sunday, March 13, 2 p.m.
“We presented our last Red Dot Players show, Vanity Fair, the week before everything was shut down by the pandemic,” explains Beaulne, who is also a Professor in the English department at OC. “Two years later, it is exhilarating to be back in the theatre and working on a new production.”
The play will transport audiences over the Atlantic and all the way back to 1726, to hear a fictionalized account of Mary Toft, an illiterate peasant from the village of Godalming, England. Toft became the talk of London when she convinced several prominent physicians—including Nathanael St. André, anatomist to the Royal Household—that she had given birth to seventeen rabbits.
When Toft’s hoax was exposed, the doctors she had fooled were satirized in the popular press, and several reputations were ruined.
“Toft herself was denounced as an “Abominable Cheat & Imposture” and incarcerated in Bridewell Prison for four months,” notes Beaulne. “There has been much speculation about what might have motivated Toft’s hoax and how much agency she had in the deception.”
Wonder of the Age is set in the fashionable Westminster bagnio where Toft was held while all of London debated the veracity of her claim—and waited for her to give birth to another rabbit.
For their part, the Red Dot players have been waiting anxiously to get back to the stage in front of a live audience.
“Although some of us have learned to appreciate Zoom theatre over the course of the pandemic, it cannot match the rush of performing in front of a live audience,” says Beaulne. “We’re very excited to transport audiences back to the early 1700s as we tell the strange-but-true story of the Rabbit Woman of Godalming!”
This play is recommended for mature audiences. As per provincial COVID-19 health mandates, all audience members must by fully vaccinated (vaccine passports will be verified at the door) and masks are mandatory.
Photograph by Denise Johnson
